GE14 | He was in charge of financial matters, and so it was only natural that he be entrusted with the money which was to be put as the deposit for the party's candidates.

But little did Usno Baru president Dulli Tiaseh know that such a move could prove to be disastrous.

Last Saturday, when candidates nationwide made a beeline outside their respective nomination centres, 84 hopefuls from Usno Baru were, however, left in a lurch.

This is because the man with the money was nowhere to be found.

Usno Baru supreme council member John Kisil had since lodged a police report over the matter.

According to the report, sighted by Malaysiakini, Dulli handed the deposits for 26 parliamentary seat candidates and 60 state seat candidates to the man, who oversaw the party's finances, on the eve of nomination day.

Later that day, Usno leaders arrived at the Kota Kinabalu Election Commission office to register their candidates and pay the deposits but the suspect was missing.

On nomination day, Dulli and several aspiring Usno candidates visited the suspect's home in Kota Belud and he promised to return the money by evening, but it never materialised.

Sabah police, in a news report, said that they are hunting for the suspect, indicating that he could have fled.

As a result of this debacle, only two Usno candidates were able to contest in the 14th general election after forking out their own money.

The two would contest the state seats of Balung and Merotai in Sabah.