MACC tightens the noose on suspected corrupt political elites

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MACC tightens the noose on suspected corrupt political elites

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 21, 2024: Surely the suspected corrupt political elites who are still in Malaysian soil must be having sleepless nights with relentless nightmares.

No? Then, read the following news reports on the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) tightening the noose on their probe on the suspected corrupt:

 

The Coverage/News/MACC Raids Home Of Daim Associate Tan Sri Robert Tan Hua Choon Over RM4.5 Billion Graft Probe – 100 Personal & Company Accounts Were Also Seized

NEWS

MACC Raids Home Of Daim Associate Tan Sri Robert Tan Hua Choon Over RM4.5 Billion Graft Probe – 100 Personal & Company Accounts Were Also Seized

21 January, 2024

Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission officers raided the home of a businessman bearing the title of “Tan Sri” late last night for their investigation on a vehicle fleet supply and management contract, according to sources. 

The sources told Utusan Malaysia that the MACC also raided four companies involved in the contract said to be worth over RM4 billion dollars, including three investment firms linked to the tycoon.

“The Tan Sri is the main shareholder in the company that supplied the vehicles to the government,” one source was quoted as saying.

“Pursuant to the investigation, over 100 personal and company accounts under his control were also seized last night for further action, but have not been frozen.”

In August 2019, seven companies bid for the contract that would run for 15 years, involve around 12,500 vehicles, and said to be worth an estimated RM300 million annually starting after the fifth year.

Spanco had been given an extension to manage the fleet at that point and eventually joined the bidding war.

A joint venture firm between Berjaya Corporation Bhd and Naza Corporation Holdings Sdn Bhd eventually won the bid, before the letter of intent was withdrawn in 2020 during the Muhyiddin administration and the contract awarded to Spanco again.

Berjaya and Naza are suing the government over the rescinded offer.

Source : Malay Mail

Source : Focus

Tan Sri Robert Tan Hua Choon Ties With Daim   

Tan’s ties with Daim date back to the early 1990s. In 1992, one Robert H C Tan (as stated by the Czech Republic’s then Central Bank governor Josef Tosovsky) was announced to have set up a bank in the Czech Republic called IC Bank, with a capital of US$13 million. This bank is now part of Daim’s International Commercial Bank (ICB) Financial Group, which is listed on the Alternative Investment Market, a sub-market of the London Stock Exchange.

This was not Tan’s first foray into the banking business, having had a 21.3% stake in Malta-based Lombard Bank. He then appointed one Lee Chen Chong, the then executive director of French-Malaysia Bank Bhd, to helm Lombard Bank.

French-Malaysia Bank was the forerunner of Indo-Suez Bank, which was taken over by Daim in 1981. French president Francois Mitterrand nationalised all French banks, and since Malaysian banking regulations did not allow foreign government-owned banks to operate here, Daim snapped it up from the French government. 

Daim later injected his equity in French-Malaysia Bank for a smaller stake in United Malayan Banking Corp Bhd, which was taken over by Sime Darby Bhd and renamed Sime Bank Bhd. Sime Bank was hived off in 1999 after incurring mounting losses the year before.

Tan’s Malaysia Aica had proposed to take over Sime Securities Sdn Bhd in 2000 but this plan was rejected by the government. Tan’s UCM Industrial Corp Bhd (which became Kuala Lumpur City Corp Bhd) controlled stockbroking outfit KL City Securities Sdn Bhd, which has since been swallowed by Alliance Bank Bhd.

KL City Securities CEO in 2000 was one Mohd Nasir Ali, who was on the board of International Bank (formerly Hock Hua Bank Bhd), by virtue of him controlling Langkah Bahagia Sdn Bhd, a private company supposedly linked to Daim.

Langkah Bahagia had a 15.4% stake in Malaysian Plantations Bhd (MPlant) that controlled Alliance Bank. According to Alliance Financial Group Bhd, lawyer Lutfiah Ismail is said to have a 29% equity interest in Alliance Financial Group via Langkah Bahagia, which was floated by MPlant a few years ago.

In 1997, when Langkah Bahagia acquired Hock Hua Bank, Nasir — according to news reports — publicly stated that he was acquiring the East Malaysian bank on behalf of Daim. At that time, Daim was an economic adviser to the Malaysian government.

“He is a shrewd businessman and has managed to pull off a caper on GBH’s long-time shareholders. He is entrenched in the company and will be hard to remove,” says an observer.

But then again, Tan is no ordinary businessman. His business ventures have been ongoing since the 1980s, and he has been known to have political clout. As a matter of fact, the current saga pales in comparison with some of his other feats.

Tan has always preferred to keep his activities low key. The first significant mention of Tan in the press was back in July 1992, when he was questioned by the Anti-Corruption Agency about a sale of nine million Telekom Malaysia Bhd shares to MIC’s Maika Holdings Sdn Bhd.

Some nine months later, he was mentioned again, but this time as a member of a 16-man delegation looking to invest in the Philippines. Interestingly, the person who headed the delegation was former finance minister Tun Daim Zainuddin.

The Spanco Deal

Perhaps Tan is most known as one of the shareholders of Spanco Sdn Bhd, which has the mandate to manage the government’s fleet of cars for 25 years, starting in 1994. His partners in the business are his close associates Datuk Osman Mohd Zain and Abdul Rasip Haron. Other shareholders are his son Tan Han Chuan and daughter Tan Ching Ching.

Spanco was given the contract to lease and maintain vehicles for the government for 25 years as part of the government’s privatisation exercise. This was deemed a good deal as many government departments, such as the police force, had thousands of cars, and leasing and maintenance was not exactly Spanco’s core business. 

Source : The Edge

Muhyiddin Receives RM2 Million Donations From Spanco Represented by Tan Sri Robert Tan Hua Choon

In a post on Muhyiddin’s Facebook page, it was stated that vehicle fleet management service provider Spanco represented by Tan Sri Robert Tan Hua Choon contributed RM2 million.

Source : Yahoo

Vincent Tan Files Lawsuit Against Govt, Spanco For ‘Loss’ Of Vehicle Fleet Concession

The founder of the Berjaya Group, Tan Sri Vincent Tan, has filed a lawsuit against the government and Spanco Sdn Bhd over a multimillion-ringgit vehicle fleet concession.

Tan claimed that in 2018, the previous administration issued a Letter of Intent (LoI) selecting the Berjaya Group, in partnership with Naza Group, to handle the fleet concession.

To jointly compete for the lucrative deal, which reportedly involved 12,500 vehicles and was valued at about RM300 million per year starting from the fifth year, Berjaya and Naza established a 49:51 partnership in 2018, according to a report published in NST.

Tan stated that the consortium, as per his claim as LoI from the Finance Ministry to replace Spanco Sdn Bhd as the fleet management provider.

Before the official award announcement, Tan alleged that the LoI was unjustly terminated.

“We have initiated a lawsuit against the ministry regarding this matter and we anticipate going to court later this year.

“You will receive further updates in due course,” he said during a press conference concerning the RM700 million sale of Berjaya Group’s waste management business to Naza Group.

In February 2018, the government requested proposals for a 15-year contract which includes the supply, maintenance, and fleet management of its official vehicles.

Among the other bidders were Spanco, which had been managing the concession since 1994, Sime Darby Bhd, DRB-Hicom Bhd, Samling Group, Comos, Go Auto, and the Naza-Berjaya partnership.

Tan further said the Naza-Berjaya consortium emerged as the winning bidder with the lowest offer.

“We secured the contract as the lowest bidder and received the Letter of Intent (LoI). However, following a change in administration with the appointment of Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin as the prime minister, we received a notice three months later that our LoI had been terminated.

“(The government) terminated our LoI and gave the tender to Spanco Sdn Bhd. Our tender was RM700 million cheaper than Spanco,” Tan was reported as saying.

Tan raised a question regarding why the government had agreed to pay RM700 million more to Spanco.

“Perhaps the new administration believes that Berjaya and Naza are not sufficiently competent in the automobile or automobile maintenance industries,” he added.

Tan further clarified that the consortium made changes to its shareholder agreement, increasing Bumiputera ownership to 60 percent.

“Berjaya’s ownership has consequently decreased to 40 percent. I hope that the court will rule in our favour,” he said.