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Saturday, 23 October 2010

Expert not sure if Teoh wrote note

The Star
SHAH ALAM: A handwriting examiner in the Teoh Beng Hock inquest could not be certain that a note found in the political aide’s sling bag was written by him.

Wong Kong Yong, who is attached to the Chemistry Department, said there were insufficient corresponding Chinese characters for comparison between the note and a cash voucher that were given to him.

However, he told coroner Azmil Muntapha Abas yesterday that the initials on both documents showed similar handwriting characteristics, adding that in his opinion, the initials on both documents were probably written by the same person.

The initials on the note and voucher also had similar characteristics with those on Teoh’s 10-page witness statement given to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).

Wong, however, agreed with Teoh’s family lawyer Gobind Singh Deo that the initials could also be visually different.

To Gobind’s suggestion that the initials were unlikely from the same person, Wong said: “I do not agree with your contention. The visual difference is due to natural variation.”

He said Teoh’s signature could be considered simple, adding that it was possible to reproduce a simple signature or initial.

Wong also told the inquest that the romanised writing on the note shared similar characteristics with that found in a notebook.

“This handwriting was probably written by the same person,” said Wong.

The note and notebook were among the documents in Teoh’s sling bag, which was found at the MACC office located on the 14th floor of Plaza Masalam.

The documents created a stir when investigating officer ASP Ahmad Nazri Zainal tendered them 10 months after the inquest began.

Besides the note, notebook and voucher, a visa card from a local bank and three pens were also found in the bag, handed over to Wong,

Wong said the ink used to write the note also matched that from the two Kilometrico pens given to him from Teoh’s bag.

Teoh, 30, the political secretary to Selangor state executive councillor Ean Yong Hian Wah, was found dead on July 16 last year on the fifth floor of Plaza Masalam after giving evidence at the office of the Selangor MACC on the 14th floor.

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