Senior lawyer Muhammad Shafee Abdullah has dismissed claims that the police findings regarding his client, alleged Malaysian gambling kingpin Paul Phua, were accurate.

"I do not believe that, and I stand by what the inspector-general of police (Khalid Abu Bakar) had said.

"Why stand by other subsidiary police officers' reports?" he added, before walking away.

However, Khalid (right) had not verified Shafee’s claim of a mistake and his earlier comments on the issue were viewed as a “subtle repudiation” of the Umno-linked lawyer’s statement.

Shafee had claimed that Phua, who is facing court proceedings in the United States, was mistakenly named as a member of the 14K triad and that the criminal organisation does not exist in Malaysia.

Responding to this, the police chief had told Malaysiakini that while the 14K triad did not operate here, Malaysians abroad were known to be members of the organisation.

Shafee, when met after a court hearing this afternoon, also refused to entertain questions on the matter.

He said this was because the media had misconstrued his statements during last Saturday’s press conference.

Yesterday, Malaysiakini reported that Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi had failed to consult the police before penning a letter in defence of Phua (left) to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

Police sources had also defended their findings on the matter as being accurate.

The police chief, however, declined to comment on these claims, saying the questions should be posed to the minister instead.

Zahid, on the other hand, has remained tightlipped about the letter.

Previously, Shafee told the media that due to the erroneous police report, Zahid had sent the letter to the FBI to set the record straight regarding a Malaysian citizen.

The letter also claimed that Phua had assisted the Malaysian government on national security matters.

Phua's defence team had initially submitted the letter to the US court, but retracted it following objections from Putrajaya.

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