Phoong denied initiating any meeting with Tei, or making the remarks Tei attributed to him.
“I never made any remarks such as ‘who doesn’t love money’ or anything of that nature.
“As previously acknowledged, I met him once for a brief conversation, and the facts clearly demonstrate that I was never involved in any actions taken over Sabah mining matters, as he has alleged,” he said in a statement today.
He said he had consulted his lawyers, adding that Tei’s account of what was discussed during their only conversation was a complete distortion of the facts.
Phoong, who was previously the Sabah industrial development minister, said he verified the timeline and reviewed his message records with his political secretary, Chan Loong Wei, noting that his conversation with Tei took place at noon on March 22, 2023.
“Tei insisted on seeing me despite having no prior appointment in my schedule, stating that even a brief meeting would do.
“My office was routinely open as I was a minister and an elected representative, and meeting members of the public was part of my official duties. I therefore informed my political secretary that I would agree to a 15-minute meeting,” he said.
He said he did not know Tei personally and that the meeting was impromptu.
Earlier, China Press reported Tei as claiming in a podcast that he was invited by Chan to meet Phoong to discuss the mining licence issue.
Tei accused Phoong of not reporting the matter to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission, despite knowing it involved corruption.
“When Phoong first became a state minister, he was aware of the licence allocations. Sabah chief minister Hajiji Noor assigned mining licences to each minister or party representative. Phoong called me to ask about these allocations.
“He said to me, ‘Who doesn’t want money?’ If he did not say that, he can sue me,” said Tei.
Tei said he later learned that Hajiji refused to give DAP any licences to prevent the party from knowing the full process or how the system worked.
“I knew Hajiji hadn’t given DAP any licences, so I stopped contacting him,” he said.
Tei said he did not give Phoong any money, like he had with several other assemblymen.