PETALING JAYA: Berjaya Corporation Bhd has denied a Bloomberg report that its founder, Vincent Tan, was involved in talks with Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim on opening a casino in Forest City, Johor.
It said the report by Bloomberg, which was also carried by The Edge Singapore, contained inaccurate information that misrepresented the company’s involvement in talks with Anwar concerning Forest City.
“We would like to make it clear that Tan has not participated in any such discussions,” the company said in a statement, describing the article as containing inaccurate claims.
Berjaya also asked Bloomberg and The Edge Singapore to “remove any misleading content” in the articles and to halt further dissemination of the “inaccurate information” involved.
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Bloomberg had reported yesterday that Anwar met Tan and Genting Group’s Lim Kok Thay last week to discuss a second casino licence for Johor’s Forest City development.
Quoting sources familiar with the matter, it reported that a casino would revive the US$100 billion property project.
The report said gambling is one of the most regulated sectors in Malaysia, with a casino licence having to be renewed every three months at the discretion of the finance minister.
Anwar, who is also the finance minister, had rubbished the report, saying it was “not true” and “a lie”.
Genting has held Malaysia’s sole casino licence since 1969 and operates the country’s only casino in Genting Highlands.
In 2014, New Straits Times reported that Tan wanted to revive plans to operate a casino at the Berjaya Hills Resort in Pahang.
The report said that while Tan had applied for a licence to operate a casino in Berjaya Hills since 2004, it was rejected amid protests from some quarters.
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