MCA president Wee Ka Siong has challenged DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng to reiterate remarks that Wee “might” have benefited from 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).

Branding the finance minister a coward, Wee said he will discuss with his lawyers on the next course of action against Lim.

“He said yesterday that I ‘might’ have benefited from 1MDB, therefore MCA refuses to return the money.

“I dare him to repeat it again without using the word ‘might’.

“He is a coward. He said he will sue me because I call him an unaccredited accountant.

“I stand by what I have said. He is not a chartered accountant,” Wee said today at the party headquarters.

Yesterday in Penang, Lim told the press that MCA’s Koperasi Jayadiri Malaysia Berhad (Kojadi), is being prevented from returning the money to the authorities by Wee.

“Why is the MCA president blocking Kojadi from returning the money? Is it because he has received some money, too?”

Kojadi received RM15 million from Yayasan 1MDB in 2012 to implement a socio-economic micro-credit scheme for youths.

At today’s press conference, Wee said he had never issued a directive to Kojadi board of directors on whether to return from Yayasan 1MDB to the authorities.

The Malaysian Insight today reported that a row between Wee and Kojadi chairman Ng Peng Hay over the 1MDB funds has threatened to boil over.

An emergency meeting was held on Thursday where all Kojadi directors who attended had agreed to cooperate with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) in the agency’s civil forfeiture suit to recover 1MDB funds.

The directors were apparently “ready” to repay the RM15 million Kojadi received in 2012 from 1MDB, although the money had been used.

Sources said the money had been disbursed to 1,264 small businesses, cooperatives and also used to pay taxes.

On Friday, Ng complained of alleged interference from Wee, who allegedly prevented Kojadi directors from meeting with MACC on the matter.

Ng is a long-time MCA member, who released a private statement on Thursday about the meeting to discuss returning the RM15 million and said they ran into Wee’s resistance.

Just six hours after his statement was issued, 11 Kojadi board members denied that the RM15 million used in the micro-credit scheme came from former prime minister Najib Razak’s account and that the meeting did not resolve to go to the MACC. – June 30, 2019.