BERJAYA Corporation Bhd today denied reports that its founder Vincent Tan was involved in discussions with Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim to open a casino in Forest City, Johor.

The company said reports by The Edge Singapore and Bloomberg yesterday had included “inaccurate information that misrepresented its supposed involvement in discussions with Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim regarding the project.

“We would like to make it clear that Vincent Tan has not participated in any such discussions and refutes the inaccurate claims presented in the articles,” it said in a statement.

The company urged the two publications to publish a clarification and take down misleading content from the articles in question. 

“We trust that the responsible parties will understand our concerns and take appropriate action,” BCorp said in its statement.

A Bloomberg report said that Malaysia was in early discussions with tycoons to open a casino in Forest City in an effort to revive the RM478 billion project.

Quoting sources, it said Anwar had met with Tan and Genting Group’s Lim Kok Thay last week at the site in Johor.

Later yesterday, Anwar denied reports that the government was mulling a casino licence to revive Forest City.

He said news of the casino licence was a “lie” and “not right”. – April 26, 2024.