THE company that offered to donate two million doses of Sinovac vaccines to the Penang government is a bogus entity, said Khairy Jamaluddin.

The coordinating minister for the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme said he had investigated the offer by one Yong Chee Kong from Xintai Development Enterprise Ltd, a Hong Kong-based company.

“This is a scam. This is bogus,” he said at a press conference today.

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

Checks on company records showed that the company did not exist, he said.

He said he had received a similar offer from the same individual.

Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow yesterday said the state wanted the federal government to approve its request to accept the donation.

The Malaysian Insight had earlier reached out to Chow for comments on the company. At the time of writing, The Malaysian Insight is still waiting for Chow’s response.

Yong, who identified himself as the managing director of the company, told Chow in a letter dated February 1, that he will fork out the deposit of US$2 million (RM8.3 million) for the two million doses of vaccine from Sinovac Biotech Limited.

The man who claimed to be a citizen with an address in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah said he had liaised with Sinovac’s head of international sales Coco Chang for the purchase. 

Khairy said he felt compelled to investigate the offer after Chow’s press conference with his predecessor Lim Guan Eng. 

“After obtaining confirmation from Sinovac in China, there are no evidence of any documents and applications were received from any of the company’s representatives in relation to the donation,” he said. 

“In fact, the person named as the Head of International Sales, Coco Chang has confirmed that she does not handle Sinovac Biotech Limited’s Asian market and has denied she was ever contacted for the deal,” he added.

The science, technology and Innovation Minister said he received a letter from the same individual on February 9, for a similar offer for the Sabah government. 

He added that his officers had then made the relevant checks with Sinovac and found the offer was fake.

“How did the Penang government use this scam to accuse the federal government of blocking the donation of two million doses of vaccine to Penang? 

“I want to emphasise that I welcome any offers to help Malaysia or state governments with vaccine donations. But it must be according to the proper channels. 

“Vaccine is a controlled item. This is not akin to buying a T-Shirt on Shopee,” he said, adding that jabs require approvals from regulatory bodies. 

He said that he had informed Chow and Lim to not politicise the national vaccination drive. 

“Do not politicise the national immunisation programme with this rubbish. This is bogus. 

“But I am willing to be proven wrong if the Penang government can prove that the donation is authentic, then I will give them immediate approval to bring in the vaccines,” he said, adding that he has been open and cooperative with all state governments wanting to get their own stocks. 

He said Chow and Lim had cast serious allegations on him, saying that he was trying to block the supply of vaccines to Penang through this donation. 

“That is a very serious allegation that I completely deny and categorically say again today that this donation offer is bogus. Look at the letter there is not even a letterhead,” he said. 

He added that another entity known as the Sekhar Foundation had also claimed that it had 200,000 doses given to the national programme. 

He said checks with Sinovac and Pharmaniaga revealed that there were no such dealings between the foundation and the companies. 

Khairy added that the Covid-19 Immunisation Task Force will lodge a police report to identify the culprit behind the letter. 

“He has confused Chow. But I wish that the Penang chief minister and Lim had done their own due diligence,” he said. 

He said vaccines are controlled items that require the necessary paperwork to show that orders were made, which is absent in both cases. – May 19, 2021.