KUALA LUMPUR – Berjaya Corporation Bhd’s legal representative has filed police reports urging an investigation into the dissemination of false statements by an unnamed source regarding the purported Forest City casino discussions.
In a statement, the company said the report was filed on April 26, 2024, and represented its executive chairman Tan Sri Vincent Tan, who seeks to address concerns arising from factually inaccurate articles published by Bloomberg LP and The Edge Singapore on April 25, 2024.
It said the articles in question, titled “Malaysia in talks with tycoons on casino to revive $100 billion Forest City” by Bloomberg and “Malaysia mulls casino at Forest City” by The Edge, Singapore, contain inaccurate information misrepresenting involvement in discussions with Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim regarding the Forest City project.
The company reiterated that Tan has not engaged in any discussions with reported parties, including Anwar, Genting Group deputy chairman and chief executive Tan Sri Lim Kok Thay, or any representatives of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Ibrahim, refuting all inaccurate claims presented in the articles.
“Secondly, we strongly believe that the publications and/or republications of the articles, which contained completely false and untrue statements, were made with malicious intent, aimed to cause political upheaval, undermine the public trust and distort the public’s perception of YDPA Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar and the prime minister of Malaysia,” Berjaya said in a statement.
“Such malicious publications are further aggravated by the fact that neither news agencies had made any attempt whatsoever to verify nor confirm the veracity and accuracy of the statements in the articles before publishing the same, especially when the statements were attributed to an ‘unnamed source’.”
This comes after Berjaya issued a similar denial on the matter on Friday.
Bloomberg’s report said Anwar had met Tan and the Genting Group’s Lim last week to discuss the opening of a casino in Forest City, which is said to be struggling to attract property buyers and investors.
Citing unnamed sources familiar with the talks, Bloomberg also said a representative of Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Ibrahim, who is Johor’s ruler, was also present, as he is a shareholder in the joint venture with China firm Country Garden as Forest City’s master developer.
The beleaguered US$100 billion (RM480 billion) project, which began in 2006, has been dubbed a “white elephant” by some media.
In August last year, Anwar said Forest City would be made into a special financial zone. This, along with the Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone, would give Malaysia a competitive advantage in attracting foreign investments.
Genting Malaysia Bhd has also denied any involvement in the Forest City casino discussions.
In response to recent foreign media articles, Genting said that the reports contained claims that the company and its deputy chairman and chief executive Lim had participated in discussions relating to the opening of a second casino in Johor.
In a statement on Saturday, Genting Malaysia said that neither the company nor Lim was involved in such discussions or meetings, and the claims made are untrue.
Hence, the company urged all parties to immediately cease the publication and dissemination of the misinformation, remove the untrue claims and provide the necessary clarification to the public to prevent further confusion.
The company added that it will not hesitate to take further action deemed necessary to protect its interests and those of its stakeholders.
On Thursday (April 25), Anwar strongly denied the news report which stated that the government is mulling a second casino licence for Forest City after Genting Highlands.
The following day, Anwar suggested all parties mentioned in a recent report by a foreign news agency take necessary action against the news agency. – April 29, 2024