Infamous businessman Low Taek Jho must be hauled up by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) to expose his links with the now deregistered 1Malaysia Welfare Club of Penang, says Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng.

Lim recalled that the club was active in organising dinners and distributing cash donations to several organisations, including NGOs and three local Chinese media groups, during the 2013 general election.

During that time, the club operated from a rented office in the building of the Women’s Crisis Centre on Jalan Burmah.

Lim ( photo ) noted that the three press groups received RM200,000 in total, and their “journalistic integrity” was called into question when they received the money at a gala dinner on the grounds of the Han Chiang College.

He claimed the club was linked to Low, famously known as Jho Low, and the embattled 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB), because the Penang-born billionaire was visibly present at all the events.

“Where did the club get so much money from? How is it linked to Jho Low and 1MDB? As I remember, 1MDB bought land worth RM1.38 billion in Air Itam, which later turned into a controversy,” Lim said at a press conference today.

“The 1Malaysia Welfare Club of Penang threw around so much money during the 13th general election that year and yet no action was taken against it,” he lamented.

“There was money thrown in my constituency in Air Putih, too, where RM50 to RM500 was given to buy one vote. But luckily, I still won.

“Luckily, the chief minister of Penang cannot be beaten by money politics,” he added.

Club was deregistered in February 2014

Lim also referred to documents from the Registrar of Societies that said the club was deregistered in February 2014, after only two years in operation.

He claimed the club, chaired by one Geh Choh Hun, was a “fly-by-night operation” with several bank officers on its board and he demanded that the authorities invoke the Money Laundering Act to investigate it.

Lim said the club’s activities raised many “interesting questions”, since Jho Low and the 1MDB have come under the spotlight now, with the Putrajaya-funded investment company, which comes under the Finance Ministry, being queried for alleged mismanagement and for incurring a massive debt of RM42 billion.

Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad has been in the forefront of criticisms against Prime Minister and Finance Minister Najib Abdul Razak over the 1MDB fiasco.

Lim said he was prompted to raise the issue of the 1Malaysia Welfare Club of Penang after the video expose featuring Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin calling for the 1MDB Board to be sacked and investigated for failing in their duties.

“We support Muhyiddin in this issue and hope the authorities will take his remark seriously. He is, after all, the second-in-command.

“If no action is taken, we can just imagine how powerful 1MDB is, that it remains faithful and obedient to only one master,” Lim added.