PETALING JAYA: Perikatan Nasional (PN) secretary-general Hamzah Zainudin has brushed off claims that his home in Damansara was raided by the Inland Revenue Board (LHDN) earlier this week.
The Larut MP said such allegations were done to defame him ahead of the upcoming state elections, Utusan Malaysia reported.
“What does ‘raid’ even mean here?
“I’d like to put it on record that there have been many defamatory claims made against me, and I do not want to respond to these widespread accusations,” he was quoted as saying.
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He also said that he would take action against those responsible for making such claims, including filing a police report and bringing them to court.
On Thursday, FMT cited a PN source as saying that Hamzah’s home in Damansara was raided by the LHDN on Wednesday and that “some documents were seized”.
However, a Bersatu source claimed that the raid failed to unearth anything negative on Hamzah.
Yesterday, Bersatu Supreme Council member Saifuddin Abdullah seemed to confirm such a raid had occurred by telling the media that it was a “cheap political stunt” aimed at tarnishing PN’s image.
The former foreign minister said he had contacted Hamzah over the matter and was told that the alleged raid was related to a case the former home minister was linked to before this.
Saifuddin is believed to be referring to a RM15 million graft case against businessman Sim Choo Thiam. Sim was charged in May with demanding RM15 million from another businessman, Hep Kim Hong, sometime in June 2021.
The prosecution said the sum was meant to be an inducement for Hamzah to assist Hep’s company, Asia Coding Sdn Bhd, to secure projects from the home ministry.
Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim yesterday said he was unaware of the alleged raid conducted at Hamzah’s house, adding that he would leave the matter to LHDN and investigative authorities.
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