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'Lies': Guan Eng denies cancelling tax exemption given to Albukhary
Lim Guan Eng has denied that he cancelled the tax exemption given to the Albukhary Foundation during his time as the finance minister, as claimed by former prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin.
The DAP national chairperson said he might consider taking legal action against Muhyiddin if the latter fails to provide evidence to back his claims.
“I want to state that I have never issued any specific instructions to cancel the tax exemption given by the BN government to...
Lim Guan Eng has denied that he cancelled the tax exemption given to the Albukhary Foundation during his time as the finance minister, as claimed by former prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin.
The DAP national chairperson (above, left) said he might consider taking legal action against Muhyiddin if the latter fails to provide evidence to back his claims.
“I want to state that I have never issued any specific instructions to cancel the tax exemption given by the BN government to the Albukhary Foundation which is headed by Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhary.
“Can Muhyiddin show any letters where I issued the instructions as finance minister to cancel the tax exemption for the Albukhary Foundation?
“If he fails to do so, I will get legal advice on Muhyiddin’s malicious lies against me, seeing as it also involves a corruption charge which will be tried in court in the future,” Lim said in a statement last night.
‘This is new to me’
Speaking to Malaysiakini today, Lim reiterated that he was totally in the dark on the matter.
"If there's any decision, it should be made by the Inland Revenue Board, but the decision never came to me. This is new to me," he said, adding that he also did not know whether the cancellation was done during Pakatan Harapan times.
Elaborating on claims that Syed Mokhtar gave money to political parties, Lim said that DAP did not receive any such funds, but added that he cannot speak on behalf of other parties.
He also chided Muhyiddin for manipulating racial sentiments by dragging him down into this matter.
"Muhyiddin's claim against me is just to create a negative perception of a non-Muslim Harapan leader for allegedly taking action against an Islamic foundation.
"This is a completely despicable act with an evil motive. He was playing with racial sentiment," Lim said.
Muhyiddin was summoned to the MACC yesterday to have his statement recorded, and among the issues raised by the anti-graft agency was the appeal against the cancellation of the tax exemption granted to the Albukhary Foundation.
Muhyiddin told reporters after the questioning that he would be charged with abuse of power for re-granting the tax exemption given to the foundation by the former BN government.
Came to power
At the time, he said the tax exemption was cancelled by then-finance minister Lim after Pakatan Harapan came to power in 2018.
Muhyiddin said when he became prime minister after the Harapan government fell, Syed Mokhtar appealed to him to lift the cancellation.
Aside from this, the Bersatu president was also questioned by the MACC about the Jana Wibawa programme.
The Jana Wibawa programme is a stimulus project by the then-Muhyiddin administration as part of the Covid-19 pandemic relief efforts.
Several other Bersatu leaders have also been charged in relation to the Jana Wibawa project since mid-February, including Bersatu information chief Wan Saiful Wan Jan and Segambut Bersatu deputy chief Adam Radlan Adam Muhammad.
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