KUALA LUMPUR – The allegations of my involvement in awarding Spanco Sdn Bhd government contracts are a series of character assassinations made by political enemies to sabotage my reputation, said former prime minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.
Instead, he said the current administration should reveal why the letter of intent (LoI) given to another company by the previous Pakatan Harapan (PH) government was axed.
“I believe the information about this is in the Finance Ministry. It should also disclose the date that the contract was awarded to Spanco.
“Do not simply throw accusations at me. As prime minister between March 2020 and August 2021, I was not involved in awarding any government contracts as they are managed by the Finance Ministry,” he said in a statement late last night.
Muhyiddin added that he was acquitted by the high court of four counts of abuse of power involving RM232.5 million in connection with the Jana Wibawa project.
“The prosecution’s appeal will be heard in the appellate court on February 28 and 29. I pray I will get justice in court.”
Earlier, Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) chief Tan Sri Azam Baki confirmed that a former finance minister, who held office between 2020 and 2021, gave his statement as part of the ongoing probe into contracts awarded to fleet management company Spanco.
However, he said, the MACC had not called up the former prime minister who held office during the same period.
“We will call anybody who is involved in awarding the project. So far, the former finance minister has been called, but we haven’t called up the former prime minister yet.”
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim had said the government’s agreement with Spanco was harming the nation – a stance he said he had stood by since his stint as finance minister in the 1990s.
Previously, Berjaya Group founder Tan Sri Vincent Tan had sued Spanco and the Malaysian government, then led by Muhyiddin, for terminating its LoI for a vehicle-fleet concession and awarding it to another company.
The LoI, which was offered to Berjaya Group and Naza Group under the then-PH federal government, was cancelled in 2020 after Perikatan Nasional (PN) took over Putrajaya under Muhyiddin’s leadership.
The PN government had then awarded the contract to Spanco, which has held the concession since 1994, and paid it RM700 million more than the Berjaya-Naza contract, according to claims made by Tan last year.
Last month, Scoop reported that the MACC had mounted a raid on the residence of a businessman holding a “Tan Sri” title as part of its investigations into alleged graft related to the procurement and management of the government’s vehicle fleet.
On January 31, it was reported that several personal bank accounts holding tens of millions of ringgit belonging to the businessman were frozen by the MACC as a result of its investigations into the matter. – February 24, 2024