PUTRAJAYA (May 8): Communication Minister Fahmi Fadzil has stressed that the police investigation into the news report about the proposed casino development in Forest City, Johor, was not initiated by the government but resulted from a police report lodged by a law firm representing a company mentioned in the article.

The Unity Government spokesman said Berjaya Corporation Bhd (Berjaya Corp) (KL:BJCORP) had lodged the police report through its legal firm and that there were no directive from the government, the Ministry of Communications or the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC).

"The government did not issue any directive for an investigation, but because there was a police report, the police initiated an investigation according to standard procedures," he said at a press conference here on Wednesday.

On April 26, Berjaya Corp reportedly lodged a police report against an international news portal's article alleging that business tycoon Tan Sri Vincent Tan was involved in discussions with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim regarding the opening of a casino in Forest City.

Following that, Anwar, Berjaya Corp, and Genting Malaysia Berhad (Genting Malaysia) (KL: GENM), which was also named, denied the report from the news portal and urged that action be taken against the international media company over the article in question.