Six under probe after former Malaysian minister says S$82,600 missing from his house

Mr Syed Saddiq denied that the missing sum from a safe in his Petaling Jaya home belonged to Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia, of which he is its youth wing chief. PHOTO: SYEDSADDIQ/INSTAGRAM

PETALING JAYA (THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - Malaysian police have called in six individuals to have their statements taken over the case of missing money involving former youth and sports minister Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman.

Petaling Jaya district police chief Ezanee Mohd Faisal said they would have their statements taken at noon at the district police headquarters on Tuesday (March 31).

"The case is under investigation and we do have a few leads, which I am not at liberty to divulge at this time, " he said after attending a Covid-19 operation at Kota Damansara here.

Assistant Commissioner Ezanee said police had remanded the maid to help with investigations.

A police report lodged by Mr Syed Saddiq on March 29 seen by The Star said an estimated RM250,000 (S$82,600) in cash was missing from his Petaling Jaya home after the Muar MP decided to check his safe at 7pm on March 28.

Mr Syed Saddiq, 27, denied that the missing sum taken from a safe in his Petaling Jaya home belonged to Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia, of which he is its youth wing chief.

The politician said later in a social media post that the bulk of the cash was to be used for renovations.

He said RM90,000 belonged to him, RM50,000 was from his mother and RM70,000 were from both his parents. He acknowledged that the total does not equal to RM250,000, but said this was his estimate of the missing sum when he made a police report.

Mr Syed Saddiq was a Cabinet minister in the Pakatan Harapan government that collapsed at the end of February.

He said he had never said the missing money was Bersatu's.

Mr Syed Saddiq is demanding that a TV station publicly apologise immediately for claiming that it was Bersatu's money, saying that the news report had serious implications on his image and credibility as a Bersatu leader.

Bersatu is currently split into two factions, with Mr Syed Saddiq supporting the one led by party chairman Mahathir Mohamad, while others back Bersatu's president, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, who is Malaysia's Prime Minister.

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