Forest City 'casino' claims: Cops to quiz news portal's chief editor

The police would be questioning the chief editor of an English news portal over a report on the alleged plans to build a casino in Forest City, Johor.

According to The Star, the chief editor would be called up by Bukit Aman CID's Special Investigation Unit (USJT) at 11am on Monday (May 6).

"An investigation was conducted following a police report lodged by a lawyer to businessperson Vincent Tan.

"The report was lodged here (Kuala Lumpur) in connection with the article 'Malaysia Mulls Casino at Forest City: Bloomberg'.

"An investigation will be conducted under Section 4(1) of the Sedition Act, Section 500 of the Penal Code and Section 233 of the Communication and Multimedia Act 1998," Inspector-General of Police Razarudin Husain was reported as saying.

He added that the police are also expected to record a statement from Tan, who is Berjaya Corp Bhd founder, and Genting Group chief executive officer Lim Kok Thay regarding the same matter soon.

"However, the date for recording statements of both men has not been set.

"The USJT has set appointments to record the statements of important witnesses but has not received confirmation on suitable dates," he said.

Bloomberg’s report

On April 25, Bloomberg claimed that Malaysia is in talks with tycoons to open a casino in Forest City, a US$100 billion (RM480 billion) project in Johor.

The business portal quoted sources saying Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim met Tan and Lim in a lunch meeting to discuss the matter.

The report also alleged that representatives of Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar, as well as other senior government officials, were also present at the meeting.

However, Anwar dismissed the report and said those behind the report must face legal action.

Describing those behind the allegation as politically bankrupt, Anwar said Sultan Ibrahim had never broached the idea of organising gambling in Forest City.

"His Majesty has never mentioned to me any interest in organising gambling there.

"So where did it (allegation) come from? From all these bad people. They should be the ones replacing my cells in Sungai Buloh (prison),” he was reported as saying.

On a related matter, Bersatu information committee member Badrul Hisham Shaharin, better known as Chegubard, was charged in the Johor Bahru Sessions Court on April 30 with making seditious remarks related to the project.

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