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Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News |
| How the boardroom clinched Deepak deal Posted: 04 Jan 2013 04:25 PM PST The most puzzling question in the RM30 million settlement with carpetman Deepak Jaikishan is why didn't Boustead Holdings Bhd buy 100% shares in Astacanggih? Mohd Ariff Sabri Aziz, FMT Why can't the group of army veterans see the documents related to the purchase of Astacanggih Sdn Bhd and land from Awan Megah (M) Sdn Bhd? After all, the legal requirement is that the documents related to the purchases should be made available for public inspection for three months from the date Boustead Holdings Bhd (BHB) announced the deals. But that didn't happen, did it? Anway, what I found puzzling was this. BHB can buy out Astacanggih (an 80% stake) but cannot do the same with Awan Megah. If it takes over Awan Megah, wouldn't that lead to taking over the privatisation project (National Defence Education Centre or Puspahanas)? If that was the case, the company (Awan Megah) should be in distress as it had neither the intention nor capacity to build the RM100 million Puspahanas. It's embroiled in a lot of problems. Wouldn't it be simpler to just buy out the two proxies fronting for Raja Ropiaah Abdullah, the owner of Awan Megah? Let us do a little bit of detective work concerning BHB asking its son-company (grandson to Lembaga Tabung Angkatan Tentera or LTAT) to buy Astacanggih and buy off Deepak Jaikishan. Some people called it outright bribery which seems to be in line with how Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak manages the country. Let me suggest to you what may have happened in the "war room" or bunker of the BHB board of directors, many of whom are former generals (who never went to war). It was an emergency meeting and must have given the retired generals a surreal sense that they were at war – having to make a quick decision. Luckily they were qualified generals and not dullards. The BHB directors consented to its son-company, its wholly-owned unit, Bakti Wira Development Sdn Bhd (Company No. 276338-M) to enter into an agreement on Dec 20, 2012, to acquire 16,000,000 ordinary shares of RM1 each in Astacanggih Sdn Bhd (Company No. 767577-W). This represented 80% of the issued and paid-up share capital of Astacanggih. This was meant to pay back that pesky Hindustan hero (Deepak Jaikishan), author of "The Black Rose". So Boustead now has a new adopted son, Astacanggih. Astacanggih and Bakti Wira then entered into an agreement with Awan Megah (Company No. 184720-W) to acquire a total of 200 acres of freehold land in Klang, Selangor. They entered into such agreement on Dec 27, 2012. The purchase price of RM30 milion was arrived at on a willing-seller and willing-buyer basis, the managers told the generals. Astacanggih shares were originally held by Deepak and Prestige Dimension Sdn Bhd and other minority shareholders who were the vendors in the acquisition of shares. The other original shareholder of Astacanggih is Putra Nazrain Adril Abdul Jalil who holds four million or 20% shares in Astacanggih. Who is Astacanggih? Astacanggih is a private limited company incorporated in Malaysia and operating from its address given as 25-5-16 (5.16, 5th Floor), Plaza Prima, 4½ Mile, Jalan Klang Lama, 58000 Kuala Lumpur. It is an investment holding company with an issued and paid-up share capital of RM20 million divided into 20,000,000 ordinary shares of RM1 each. But the managers have not explained one crucial thing. Why not buy 100% of Astacanggih? More importantly, why buy Astacanggih? Of what relevance is Astancaggih? What is the strategic relevance of Astancanggih? The generals did not ask and the managers doing the briefing did not tell. Here we had "consenting" adults. Then, the generals were told of the matter concerning the purchase of 200 acres of land from Awan Megah. The generals screamed, because they already had 700 acres in Bukit Raja area which was not developed. The 200 acre land in question were some vacant freehold lots with some abandoned oil palm trees. The land lots were:
The managers said "we are paying a total of RM130 million cash. We assure you generals, the purchase price on the land, like the price on Astacanggih, was arrived at on a willing-seller and willing-buyer basis". They added that their lawyers had assured them that the land was acquired free from all charges, liens and encumbrances. But it was subject to whatever restrictions in interest and conditions of title, whether expressed or implied in the separate titles to the lands for the purpose of developing them. The last portion of the explanation made some generals dizzy and some of them demanded some whisky to be brought in. Who is Putra Nazrain? But one sober ex-general asked: Who in the hell is Awan Megah? And so the point-man explained that Awan Megah is a private limited company incorporated in Malaysia and having its registered address at 25-1, Jalan PJU 1/42A, Block F2, Dataran Prima, 47301 Petaling Jaya, Selangor. The directors of Awan Megah are Putra Nazrain Adril bin Abdul Jalil and Raja Rabiatun Aduah binti Raja Abdullah. So Putra Nazrain was a shareholder in Astacanggih and Awang Megah. The purchase of Awan Megah is of some importance to us, the managers said. Awan Megah has a contract with the Defence Ministry to build the RM100 million Puspahanas and we have asked our lawyers to demand some conditions "precedent" from Awan Megah, they explained to the generals. What in blue blazes are "conditions precedent", shouted one of the now intoxicated ex-generals. Matters that must be sorted out first before we make complete payment, the managers replied. Well, the real owner behind Awan Megah is a close friend to the prime minister and his missus. Moreover, we are sure that because we have bought the lands, our generals here can prevail upon the Defence Minister to help too. We have asked Awan Megah to complete the signing of a privatisation agreement between Awan Megah and the government of Malaysia and Syarikat Tanah dan Harta Sdn Bhd. That's for the construction of the Puspahanas. Just in case Astancanggih does indeed have a binding agreement with Awan Megah, we have asked Awan Megah to make sure that the approval from the relevant authorities for the transfer of the lands to Astacanggih be obtained.
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| Ex-IGP thinks his exposés will bear fruit Posted: 01 Jan 2013 05:11 PM PST MyWatch patron Musa Hassan is optimistic that the police force will eventually improve. Anisah Shukry and Teoh El Sen, FMT VIDEO INSIDE Former Inspector-General of Police Musa Hassan has come under attack from several quarters for his recent revelations about corruption in the force, political interference in its work, and criminal elements infiltrating it at the highest levels. The government has ignored his allegations, and his successor, Ismail Omar, has dismissed his claims as "unimportant". However, the patron of anti-crime watchdog MyWatch said he remained optimistic that his exposes, which he claimed were aimed at improving the police force, would bear fruit. "You shouldn't be downhearted when people don't want to listen," he told FMT in an exclusive interview. "We still have to tell the truth." Musa spoke well of Ismail's deputy, Khalid Abu Bakar, calling him a "capable leader". But he dismissed a suggestion that he was ganging up with Khalid to overthrow Ismail. When asked whether there had been attempts by the Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak or Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim to meet him, Musa said no political leaders had met him. In a new year message to Malaysians, Musa said: "I hope this country will prosper, and there won't be any political problems. I hope the police will improve themselves. People are now more aware of integrity. That's a good sign. All agencies should be of high integrity, and avoid themselves from being corrupted, that's the wishes of the people, and that's my wish also." MyWatch chairman R Sri Sanjeevan, who was with Musa during the interview, said the organisation's objective was to make Malaysia crime-free society, adding that this required good leadership in the police force. Excerpts from the interview
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