Nurul Izzah, PKR destroyed my reputation - Mohamad Salleh

Datuk Seri Dr Mohamad Salleh Ismail told the High Court here on Monday that his reputation and that of his entire family were completely destroyed by Nurul Izzah Anwar and Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR).

He was referring to the alleged defamatory statements by the two defendants pertaining to the purchase of eight units of properties at KL Eco City, Bangsar.

Mohamad Salleh, who is an executive chairman of National Feedlot Corporation Sdn Bhd (NFCorp) said the statements had also caused the collapse of NFCorp.

"The entire corporate image of the NFCorp and its subsidiaries have been completely destroyed beyond redemption as a result of the acts of the defendants," he said.

He was testifying on the first day of the hearing of his dafamation suit against Lembah Pantai Member of Parliament Nurul Izzah Anwar and PKR (then) secretary general Saifuddin Nasution.

The plaintiff said following the defendants' press conference on March 7, 2012, some 110 news reports were generated by news portals, mainstream newspapers, blogs and tweets.

He said the defendants' action had also tarnished the image of other directors of companies linked to NFCorp and their families.

Questioned by his counsel Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, Mohamad Salleh said he did not receive any loan from Public Bank Berhad for the purchase of the eight property units.

He said Public Bank confirmed this via a letter dated Jan 4, 2012, stating that it had withdrawn an offer to finance the properties.

Mohamad Salleh said the Sales and Purchase Agreements of the eight property units were signed with the developers' company on Dec 15, 2011.

"The defendants' allegations that I had been unable to repay my loans on the eight KL Eco City properties on a timely basis from March 2011, is a complete lie," he added.

Meanwhile, in his witness statement tendered to the court, Mohamad Salleh said Nurul Izzah had lent credence to and supported the statement made by PKR strategic director Mohd Rafizi Ramli that he was not credit worthy because he only had RM421.00 in his Public Bank account.

"The truth is that the account was an account used to deposit funds for a standing instruction to service a bank loan and it was not related to the alleged eight KL Eco City properties but to two properties in Plaza Damas 3.

"I would deposit funds into this account every month to service the repayment of the loan relating to the Plaza Damas 3 purchase which was made sometime in 2005.

"The payment was through a standing instruction to repay the bank loan taken several years earlier, and the account had absolutely nothing to do nor was in any way connected with NFCorp," said the plaintiff.

On Dec 24 2013, Mohamad Salleh and NFCorp sued Nurul Izzah for a statement she made relating to Mohd Rafizi's claims that he had bought eight units of properties at KL Eco City with public funds allocated to NFCorp.

Nurul Izzah's alleged statement was aired by Malaysiakini TV on March 7, 2012.

In his statement of claim, Mohamad Salleh said the statement implied that he and his family had misappropriated NFCorp funds to buy the properties for their personal use and not for the company.

The hearing before Judge Datuk Hue Siew Kheng continues on Wednesday.