THE man who offered to donate two million doses of Sinovac vaccine to Penang could not show proof of donation but says he has money in a Hong Kong account, said Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Khairy Jamaluddin.

“My officer got in touch with a person claiming to be Yong Chee Kong. She asked him if he had proof of the donation so we can facilitate it (order with Sinovac). He said no.

“He said he has money in an account in Hong Kong,” Khairy said in a tweet.

The coordinating minister for the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme said his officer then asked him to make an official donation, but Yong had declined.

“She then told him he can either show proof of the donation or make an official donation to the government of Malaysia, which we will pass to the Penang government. NOT for him to pay to any company. Which he refused.

“As I said yesterday, I am happy to facilitate the donation if Mr Yong can prove he can procure the vaccines or make an official contribution to the government.”

Yesterday, Khairy said he had investigated the offer by Yong and found that it was a scam and a bogus offer.

Based on checks with Sinovac, he said no order was placed by the company nor individuals involved.

Earlier today, Yong, who claimed that he is from Sabah, refuted Khairy’s allegation and said his offer to donate the vaccines were genuine and not “bogus”.

Xintai Enterprise Development Limited, a Hong Kong-based company Yong claims he is the managing director of, had offered to donate two million doses of the vaccine to the Penang government.

He had made the offer to Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow in a letter dated February 1, saying that he will fork out the deposit of US$2 million (RM8.3 million) for the two million doses.

Yong said he had first made the offer to Sabah, which the state declined, but Penang had taken up his offer. – May 20, 2021.