KUALA LUMPUR: Berjaya Corporation Bhd (BCorp) yesterday said that it has filed police reports regarding articles on its involvement in casino talks at Forest City, Johor, citing malicious intent aimed at causing polticial upheaval.
BCorp's legal representative filed police reports on April 26, 2024.
"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 on His Majesty Sultan Ibrahim King of Malaysia and the Prime Minister of Malaysia," the company said in a statement issued last night.
BCorp said the news agencies had not made any attempt whatsoever to verify or 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".
The company said the police reports are aimed at prompting police investigations into the matter, particularly to identify the purported "unnamed source" who spread false statements.
"We trust the police will do the necessary to investigate this matter, and respectfully encourage any publication to be done more tactfully before making any allegations without prior verification," it added.
BCorp yesterday reiterated an earlier statement that Tan has not participated in any such discussions with any reported parties, including the Prime Minister of Malaysia, DatukSeri Anwar Ibrahim, Genting Group's Tan Sri Lim Kok Thay as well as any representatives of His Majesty, or Sultan Ibrahim himself, and refute all inaccurate claims presented in the articles.
This is the company's second statement after Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim denied reports that the government is mulling a casino licence to revive Forest City in Johor.
A foreign news wire quoting unnamed sources claimed that Tan and Genting Malaysia Bhd deputy chairman and CEO Tan Sri Lim Kok Thay were in early discussions with the government on opening a casino in Forest City, and that they had met Anwar.
Genting Malaysia has also denied the involvement of neither the company nor Lim in any such discussions or meetings and that the claims made are untrue.