DAP Seri Kembangan assemblyperson Ean Yong Hian Wah lambasted the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) findings into the death of his former political aide Teoh Beng Hock for its “ inconsistencies”, which he claims tarnish his reputation and the party’s image.

NONE Ean Yong ( right ) told reporters today that he was not only “deeply disappointed” with the RCI’s conclusion that Teoh had committed suicide, which he said was made “without basis” - and he  also pointed out parts of the report that omitted the testimonies of several witnesses.

The Selangor state executive councillor was particularly peeved with the royal panel’s criticism over “ advance payments ” from DAP’s Serdang Aman branch to contractors and suppliers for small projects in the Seri Kembangan constituency.  

Ean Yong said the RCI report failed to take into consideration the testimony of Putrajaya MACC's senior acting superintendent, Ahmad Shafik Abdul ,during the inquiry, clearing him and DAP of any irregularities in the said disbursement of Selangor government funds.

NONE "This has affected DAP's reputation and it is quite misleading. It is not according to the facts presented during the inquiry," he told a press conference at the party headquarters in Kuala Lumpur.

In the RCI report released last week, the commission had repeatedly mentioned   "shortcomings" it noticed in the DAP payment system that had been central in the investigation involving Teoh.

These weaknesses, although not proven as corruption or irregularities, would raise doubts and invite accusations, the commission had said.

RCI zooms in on payment system

According to the 124-page report released last week, contractors and suppliers of small projects or programmes to be paid from state funds allocated to Ean Yong, would request the payment first from the DAP, since the district office or land office would take one to two months to process their claims.

NONE The commission noted that when the contractors received their payments from the district or land offices, they would then reimburse DAP.

"We find this rather odd that the parties involved in this process were unable to exclude political parties from involvement in government projects. The allocation was from the budget of the state government.

"It was supposed to be spent for the residents living in a particular area in the state. A political party should not be involved in assisting financially in such activities. Otherwise it would attract accusations, as it did in this case, that such funds or part of it was channelled back to the political party.

"We are unable to comprehend here as to why a contractor or an agent undertaking to stage a programme or to carry out a small project, required the financial assistance of a political party to tide him over for the period while awaiting payment from the district office or land office.

"Surely anyone doing business should have capital of his own or should make arrangements for the same," the RCI report says.

Challenging the commission’s findings, Ean Yong said the statements from contractors Lee Wye Wing and Wong Hong Chae “had clearly (said) during the RCI hearings that there were no advance payments from Serdang Aman DAP to fund any of the small infrastructure projects which were carried out” in the Seri Kembangan constituency.

“It was the Serdang Aman DAP branch that most of the time acted as the programme co-organisers and (therefore) it footed some of the bills,” he said.

Besides this, Ean Yong also pointed out that the RCI had cited Ahmad Shafik as saying that “none of the (payment) receipts was an exact match to the amount reimbursed to the DAP”, although the latter had related during the proceedings that MACC’s investigations showed that the “reimbursements and receipts matched the projects carried out”.

As proof of the discrepancy, Ean Yong provided copies of the testimonies during the RCI proceedings to reporters.

RCI report raises more questions

NONE However, Ahmad Shafik ( right ) in his testimony had also stated that contractor Lee had submitted more than 50 receipts and that the MACC was unable to ascertain which receipt was issued for which project, but that MACC decided to drop any further probe as it was of no relevance to its investigation.

“The RCI report is supposed to unlock the cause of his death, but instead contributes to more questions and uncertainties about Teoh’s death.

“The unconvincing attempt of the RCI to spin a suicide will further convince Malaysians that the BN government is not interested in providing justice, but to cover up the truth,” said Ean Yong, hinting that inconsistencies in the report suggested an attempt to justify the theory as to why Teoh allegedly committed suicide.

Teoh was found dead on July 16, 2009, on the fifth floor service corridor of Plaza Masalam in Shah Alam after being questioned overnight on the 14th floor office of the former Selangor MACC headquarters.

Teoh was questioned as a witness in alleged irregularities in the disbursement of Selangor government funds by his employer, Ean Yong.

Earlier, a coroner’s inquest into Teoh’s death had returned an open verdict, leading for calls for the government to set up the RCI to look into the circumstances of his death, as well as to evaluate MACC's interrogation procedures.

The RCI had concluded that Teoh had taken his own life after continuous, aggressive and inappropriate interrogation tactics.

In response to the report, the MACC has formed a special panel to initiate reforms stemming from the RCI findings on its investigative methods. 

Ean Yong, however, has left it to the DAP lawyers to decide on the next course of action, whether to pursue a judicial review to expunge relevant paragraphs in the report that he says tarnishes the DAP's reputation.