Sabah mining scandal whistleblower and businessperson Albert Tei has demanded that Sabah Mineral Management Sdn Bhd (SMM) retract its statement allegedly implicating him in circulating a photo of the company’s officers with a private jet.

The legal letter by the law firm Kian Ming Advocates & Solicitors yesterday also demanded that the company publish a public apology in major newspapers and pay an unspecified amount for allegedly damaging Tei’s reputation and causing him embarrassment and distress.

It claimed SMM’s July 21 press release insinuated that...