I refer to The Straits Times article of August 6, 2015, titled "Claims that Mahathir's cronies donated to opposition".

I wish to categorically deny the veracity of the statements in your article that I or my Berjaya Group have donated the millions and billions of ringgit to Pakatan Rakyat or opposition parties, as stated in your article.

While you may claim that you are quoting from a letter written by a Mr Amin Yatim which was published in the blog MyKMU.net or from an article of the same subject in the Malaysian Insider, these are nevertheless mischievous, slanderous and completely baseless allegations.

Regrettably, The Straits Times made no attempt whatsoever to verify the truth of these scurrilous allegations, with me or anyone at the Berjaya Group before you went to publication. I find this totally unacceptable and unprofessional from a well-regarded news publication like The Straits Times. The very nature of these incredulous allegations should have raised questions of their veracity and warranted further investigation and verification on your part before the article was published.

Your article has caused me much embarrassment personally as well as to the Berjaya Group of companies and I have already received numerous calls from my friends and business associates regarding these allegations. I, personally, as well as the Berjaya Group, have many foreign business partners and such allegations will cause serious damage to my and the Berjaya Group's image and trading reputation. In fact, Singapore Technologies Telemedia Pte Ltd, a subsidiary of Temasek Holdings, is my valued joint venture partner in U Mobile Sdn Bhd, a Malaysian mobile telecommunications provider.

I hereby demand that the offending news article is removed and a public apology from The Straits Times is to be published immediately and prominently in your print version as well as your online news portal without prejudice to any further action which I may take against The Straits Times. I and the Berjaya Group reserve all our rights in this matter.

Vincent Tan Chee Yioun
Founder
Berjaya Group

•Editor's Note: We apologise for this report, which we have since removed from our online site.

As this is an important developing story on Malaysian politics, we have sought to keep readers informed of developments on all sides.

We strive to verify information as far as we can in a timely fashion, and promptly carried Mr Tan's denial the next day.