Sabah lawyer Ansari Abdullah has come forward to deny a claim that he owes RM144,000 in ‘reimbursement' for land-premium payments made by one Sohon Singh to the Land and Survey Department (LSD) on July 24, 1996.

Sohon Singh, 48, had earlier complained - without naming Ansari - that his attempts to collect the money had failed over the years.

Ansari said in a statement that he does not owe Sohon "even a sen" and denied all accusations and insinuations in the Malaysiakini report.

"I have never been his lawyer. I have never taken even a sen from him. The statement by Sohon Singh alleging that a Sabah PKR division chief ran away to China is slander and completely baseless."

Sohon did not claim in his statement that Ansari was his lawyer. Neither did he say that Ansari took any money directly from him.

However, Ansari pointed out that the public in Sabah would know which lawyer Sohon had in mind.

"I am the only Sabah PKR division chief who is a lawyer and a haji. Attempts were made to pollute my piety by his (Sohon's) statement that I lied to him and left for Mecca.

"I have given my statement to the police. I am also willing to cooperate with any agency including the MACC (Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission) so that the truth can be established."

Ansari did not disclose when he had given his statement to the police and why.

Sohon has lodged a couple of police reports against Ansari over the non-payment of the RM144,000, despite repeated reminders and letters of demand from his lawyers.

‘Part-payment made'

When contacted over Ansari's statement, Sohon responded: "He can say what he likes. The fact remains that he's keeping my money. It's all documented."

He clarified that Ansari did in fact pay him RM10,000 of the RM144,000 by cheque on Sept 28, 2004. The payment voucher reads "being part payment for refund of land premium".

"I no longer consider this as part-payment but bank interest foregone on the RM144,000. So, I still want Ansari to pay up the RM144,000 due to me as paid by Tanjung Berjaya (M) Sdn Bhd and unlawfully kept by him."

Sohon also admitted that Ansari has also paid him small sums, when contacted over the years for payment.

"Each time, it was between RM100 and RM150 and totalled over the years, comes to a few hundred ringgit. I consider this as cab fare and other expenses for going up and down to his office in Kota Kinabalu from Inanam," he added.