'Stock up on peanuts': Ex-SMM CEO unfazed over lawsuit

Summary

• Sabah Mineral Management is suing its ex-CEO Jontih Enggihon for alleged fraud and collusion, but he views this as a chance to present evidence against Sabah Chief Minister Hajiji Noor.

• Jontih claims to have evidence, including meeting minutes and text messages, on alleged power abuse by Hajiji.

Former Sabah Mineral Management (SMM) chief executive officer Jontih Enggihon is unfazed over the firm’s move to initiate legal proceedings against him.

Describing the impending court battle as an “open game” and likening it to Premier League football matches, he said: “You stock up on peanuts.”

In a Facebook post, Jontih said the legal proceedings would allow him to present all the evidence in his possession, which until now has been reserved for the authorities.

“This is an opportunity for me to expose all to the public which has been used as evidence for the investigation,” he added.

Yesterday, SMM initiated legal proceedings against Jontih and an external third party identified as Tei Jiann Chieng, who is also known as Albert Tei.

The firm said the legal action seeks redress over “fraud, breach of fiduciary duties and confidentiality, tampering with official documents, conspiracy to injure by unlawful means, and potential collusion with third parties”.

Previously, Jontih claimed that he possesses evidence to substantiate his allegation that Sabah Chief Minister Hajiji Noor, who is the SMM chairperson, “abused his powers”.

He claimed the alleged evidence is in the form of “minutes from the SMM board of directors meetings”, his “printed briefing notes to the chief minister”, and “text messages from the chief minister”.

“All the evidence is safely kept by someone, somewhere. I am willing to submit them to MACC,” he told Malaysiakini.

Last November, Malaysiakini published a video in which Jontih alleged that Hajiji favoured certain people and that he had to abide by decisions which he disagreed with.

Following this, a report was lodged with MACC against Jontih, accusing him of abusing his power.

On Nov 18, Jontih’s successor Natasha Sim announced that SMM would initiate legal action against the former CEO for allegedly acting beyond his authority to benefit “entities with potential conflict of interest.”

On Dec 4, Jontih, who denied the allegations, reiterated he has evidence to back his claims against the chief minister and his successor, and said he would file a RM30 million suit against Sim.

On Tuesday, MACC chief commissioner Azam Baki said investigations into Jontih and the whistleblower who released a slew of videos have been completed and the findings have been submitted to the deputy public prosecutor.

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