DATUK Albert Tei Jiann Cheing, the businessman who was unsuccessful in obtaining mining even though he had bribed politicians in Sabah’s ruling coalition, has recently been making explosive revelations.
In the presence of twice former premier Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, the Pahang miner-turned-whistle-blower at one stage – had disclosed that he would soon reveal the video recording of the VIP who was behind the video recordings.
Tei alleged that politicians in Sabah’s ruling coalition had taken bribes to facilitate the procurement of mining licenses.
Unfortunately, he was unable to obtain the licenses even after paying those bribes. Of the 14 politicians contesting the election in Sabah, 10 are implicated in the corruption scandal.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s senior political secretary Datuk Seri Shamsul Iskander Mohd Akin, has tendered his resignation to Anwar.
‘Who’s the powerful individual?’
Initially, he was alleged to have issued support letters to contractors but in reality, Tei accused him of receiving more than RM600,000 in bribes over a two-year period. Tei had engaged the services of Shamsul to recover the funds he had lost in the mining venture.
Tei further exposed that he possesses 340 pages of evidence and a video recording to support his allegations. He has released videos of 14 politicians in Sabah taking bribes.
Unfortunately, despite the evidence, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) claimed there was a lack of proof and charged only two politicians with accepting bribes while Tei was charged with offering bribes.
The corruption scandal revealed by Tei comes at a critical moment as the Sabah election is due this Saturday (Nov 29).
Since majority of the politicians who accepted bribes belonged to the ruling coalition Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS), the impact on the election’s outcome is unclear.
The central question now is who is the powerful individual who ordered – directly or indirectly – Tei to record the conversations with members of the ruling coalition?
It is uncertain whether Shamsul was the person taking instructions from this powerful individual and conveying them to Tei.
‘GRS could be wiped out’
Rumours suggest that Tei’s recordings were intended to embarrass GRS and ensure the coalition would toe the line of Putrajaya. If this was the motive, then it is clear that whoever was behind the recordings wanted GRS to remain subservient to the dictates of the federal government in Putrajaya.
Anwar’s political drama surrounding the recent Kota Kinabalu High Court affirmation of Sabah’s 40% revenue entitlement is nothing but propaganda.
If the federal government aims to ensure the subservience of GRS through these video recordings, then Sabahans can forget about the 40% revenue entitlement.
The information provided by Tei so far – with more details expected to emerge – will severely damage the relationship between Sabah and the federal government.
This is why the outcome of the state election is likely to be different this time with the possibility of GRS being wiped out.
Meanwhile, Anwar is expected to comment on the alleged involvement of Shamsul in the scandal and his receipt of bribes. The key question remains: who is the powerful person behind Tei’s video recordings?
With Dr Mahathir entering the controversy, developments may take a different turn, much to the detrimental of the Madani government.
Anwar who portrays himself as a crusader against corruption must explain not only the mining scandal and the resignation of his political secretary but also the FAM’s egregious football fiasco. – Nov 26, 2025
Former DAP stalwart and Penang chief minister II Prof Ramasamy Palanisamy is chairman of the United Rights of Malaysian Party (Urimai) interim council.
The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Focus Malaysia.
