From Tei’s Bombshells to Whispered Envelopes
By Betty Teh
Three days. That’s all that’s left until Sabahans shuffle to the polls on November 29, 2025, to decide the fate of 73 assembly seats and, by extension, a sliver of Putrajaya’s power.
What started as a contest over MA63 rights and rural roads has devolved into a sewer of accusations, with corruption claims flying thicker than the monsoon clouds over Kota Kinabalu. And at the center of this storm?
Businessman Albert Tei Abdullah, the self-styled whistleblower whose dossier of dirt has turned the campaign into a demolition derby.
It began in earnest last July, when Tei once accused of being the bribe giver himself, has now flipped the script, unleashing a torrent of allegations against the Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) government.
In a series of explosive exposés, he claimed eight lawmakers, including Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor and several of his cabinet ministers, pocketed millions in kickbacks for approving mining licenses in ecologically fragile areas like the Crocker Range.
Tei detailed “consultancy fees” funneled through shell companies, totaling RM200–300 million, with photos, bank slips, and hidden camera videos as his receipts.
By June, two GRS assemblymen and Tei himself faced charges in Kota Kinabalu’s corruption court, but he pleaded not guilty, positioning himself as the victim turned avenger. The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) raided offices and seized documents, but progress?
Slower than a Beaufort flood drain.
Fast forward to this week, and Tei’s strikes have gone nuclear. On November 25, he dropped a fresh bombshell, implicating none other than Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s political secretary, Datuk Seri Shamsul Iskandar, in the web alleging Shamsul pressured him to drop complaints against GRS in exchange for federal favors.
Shamsul resigned hours later amid an MACC probe, with Anwar insisting “no one is being shielded” and the investigations are “ongoing.” But the damage is done: Warisan’s Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal seized the moment, tweeting, “Corruption knows no borders from Sabah’s hills to Putrajaya’s halls.”
GRS fired back, calling Tei a “disgruntled opportunist” barred from Sabah for skipping court dates. Of the 14 politicians Tei fingered, 10 are still on the ballot eight from GRS, two from STAR turning every stump speech into a potential perjury trap.
Tei’s saga is just the opening act in a carnival of mudslinging.
As the clock ticks down, rumors of old school money politics are resurfacing like floodwater. In rural strongholds like Pitas and Bengkoka, villagers whisper of “duid sop” (pocket money) envelopes with RM100–500 per household distributed under the guise of “pre-poll aid” by GRS linked village heads.
Family feuds are another dirty arrow in the quiver. In PKR’s Petagas seat, candidate Peto Galim faces off against his own brother, Awang Husaini, who’s jumped to Warisan in a bitter sibling split over “betrayal and greed.”
Across the aisle, Perikatan Nasional’s PAS candidates in Balung are accused of “mosque whispers”spreading Islamophobic jabs at Warisan’s “Christian leanings” to rally conservative Bajau voters. 
As the final whistle blows on November 29, this isn’t campaigning; it’s combat. Tei’s corruption chronicle has cracked open the floodgates, letting every grudge, graft rumor, and ghost from Sabah’s past pour out.
With turnout projected at 75% and multi cornered fights in 41 seats, one whisper could swing a thousand votes. Voters deserve better than this gutter brawl but dirt is just the daylight version of business as usual. Will Sabah wash it off at the ballot box? Or will the stains linger until the next round?
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Timeline of Albert Tei's Sabah Mining scandal• Pre-2023: Albert Tei, a businessman based in Selangor with longstanding dealings in Sabah, becomes involved in the state's mineral sector. He reportedly sought to obtain numerous mineral prospecting licenses, at one point allegedly applying for 25 licenses, through his companies including Sinaran Hayat Sdn Bhd and Nusa Kini Sdn Bhd.• 2023: Tei together with Tan Sri Fuzi Harun (representing CLA Global Holdings and Nova Asia Resources) and Dato Bakri Zimin (Legend Motion Sdn Bhd) met Chief Minister Hajiji Noor in the picture circulated prior to the Sabah state election.• March 6, 2023: Tei allegedly offers a bribe of RM200,000 to Sindumin Assemblyman Dr. Yusof Yacob at a hotel in Kota Kinabalu, as an inducement to facilitate the application for a prospecting license for Nusa Kini Sdn Bhd.• May 12, 2023: Tei allegedly offers a bribe of RM150,000 to Assistant State Minister Andi Suryady Bandy at his residence, in exchange for processing a prospecting license application for Sinaran Hayat Sdn Bhd.• Dec 15, 2023: Date of Whass App message between Albert Tei and Shamsul Iskandar to request foreign currencies for overseas trip• Mid-to-late 2024: After his license applications were ultimately unsuccessful (reportedly due to the state government's decision to revoke his licenses), Tei begins secretly recording meetings with politicians and collecting evidence of alleged bribery in the mineral sector.• Late 2024: Tei releases a series of covert video recordings online, exposing conversations allegedly involving several Sabah lawmakers in bribery negotiations related to mineral prospecting licenses.• April 29, 2025: Tei submitted nearly 300 pages of additional evidence to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), including alleged money trails, bank records, and other documents.• May 2025: The MACC announced it had obtained a forensic report on the videos and was continuing its investigation.• June 19, 2025: The MACC confirmed the arrest of Tei and two assemblymen (Dr. Yusof Yacob and Andi Suryady Bandy) after public pressure led to the case being reopened. Tei was not granted whistleblower status as he had participated in the alleged wrongdoings.• June 30, 2025: Tei and the two assemblymen are charged in court with bribery offences, with Tei accused of offering a total of RM350,000 in bribes. All three plead not guilty. The MACC denies Tei whistleblower status as he participated in the alleged wrongdoing.• September 23, 2025: Tei releases another video, this time alleging he paid RM1.78 million to Deputy Chief Minister I Jeffrey Kitingan.• September 23, 2025: Tei dropped another video, this time implicating Deputy Chief Minister I Jeffrey Kitingan, alleging he had paid him RM1.78 million. Kitingan denied the allegations.• October 9, 2025: Tei made further claims, implicating PBS acting president Dr. Joachim Gunsalam in an alleged bid to monopolize the state's scrap metal industry.• October 23 and 24, 2025: Tei was twice barred from entering Sabah by immigration authorities while attempting to attend court proceedings, which led him to file a contempt of court bid against the Chief Minister, Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor.• November 25, 2025: Tei met with former Prime Minister Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, claiming to have revealed the "mastermind" who ordered him to record the videos. On the same day, Tei also implicated PM Anwar Ibrahim's senior political secretary, Shamsul Iskandar Akin, in the scandal, claiming he spent RM629,000 on him. Shamsul subsequently resigned from his post to defend himself against the accusations.
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