SRC withdrew lawsuit against me and there was no admission of guilt, says Lim Soon Peng

• "We wish to emphasise that Tan Sri Lim did not benefit in any way, whether personally or with regard to business," said a statement issued on his behalf.

KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 22): Property tycoon Tan Sri Lim Soon Peng has clarified that SRC International Sdn Bhd had withdrawn its lawsuit against him "on the basis of without any admission of guilt or liability".

"We wish to emphasise that Tan Sri Lim did not benefit in any way, whether personally or with regard to business," said a statement issued on his behalf on Thursday (Sept 22). "Neither Tan Sri nor any of his family members has any business interest directly or indirectly in the two organisations (that are final recipients of the money)."

"The withdrawal of the legal suit on mutually agreed terms was to bring closure to an unhappy episode affecting the country and which unfairly implicated Tan Sri Lim in a negative way. Tan Sri Lim hopes that the swift closure will move Malaysia nearer towards resilience and strength," the statement added.

The statement was issued to clarify a report in The Edge on Sept 15 which stated that Lim had settled the suit with the payment of an undisclosed sum.

SRC had filed the RM330,800 suit against Lim in May last year over the funds that entered into his account via three cheques.

Lim had denied knowing the money was from SRC. In his defence filed in April this year, he said he did not physically receive the three cheques but admitted the sum received was RM330,800 and that he received the cheques on instructions from former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and Najib's then political secretary Datuk Wong Nai Chee.

"In 2015, I did not know who issued the cheque, but was later informed following the police commercial crime unit and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission investigations where I was quizzed in 2018,” the tycoon said in his defence.

“Wong had instructed me to move the money to specific recipients namely Akademi Kewartawanan and Informasi Taima and AD Network which is the administrator of the Ah Jib Gor Facebook page. Till today, I do not have specific interests with the recipients of the fund. Six payments to that sum of RM330,800 were paid to the two organisations between April 28 and July 13, 2015,” Lim said in his defence.

The suit against Lim is one of the 16 suits filed by SRC last year, against individuals and recipients of the said funds.

Meanwhile, Rosli Dahlan, the lawyer representing SRC, confirmed the contents of Thursday's statement.

"We commend Tan Sri Lim for assisting to bring closure to this episode. We hope other recipients would do the same. This will help in strengthening corporate governance in this country and imbue the right values in our corporate citizens," said Rosli.