by Maclean Patrick
The ease with which Tajuddin Ramli, the former chairman of
MAS and a protege of former Finance minister Daim Zainuddin, was “released”
from any civil action taken against him by Government-Linked-Companies, MAS and
Danaharta smells worse than a rotting fish. Indeed, the instruction which came
from the Finance Ministry reeks of a deal brokered within the ranks of the UMNO
elite.
In his capacity as Finance minister, Prime Minister Najib
Razak agreed to settle the cases against Tajuddin of court, thus hiding the
full details of his misdeeds from the public eye. It is irresponsible of Najib
to do so since Tajuddin’s mismanagement of MAS was at the expense of tax-payers
money. And they have a right to know how they had been shafted.
Does the Prime Minister have the interest of the nation and
its taxpayers at heart or is he playing a political game to ensure that he
remains for another term? What then would become of the corruption
investigation by the MACC into Tajuddin Ramli? Will these investigations be
swept under the rug and closed? How can someone like Tajuddin Ramli, with his
record for mismanagement and corrupt practices involving billions in tax-payers
money be allowed to walk free?
Why
should Tajudin be allowed to walk free?
In 2002, MAS lodged a police report against Tajuddin,
who took the helm from 1994 to 2001, for allegedly causing the flag carrier to
suffer losses in excess of RM8 billion. Tajuddin's mismanagement and poor
business decisions in entering into a disadvantageous aircraft lease contract
with a company, which was later linked to his family caused MAS to suffer
losses of between RM10 million and RM16 million a month.
The government stepped in by buying back a stake in the
floundering airline at RM8 per share-double the market price, a bail-out by the
Malaysian government in order to save MAS from further falling into the red. By
2001, MAS was straddled with a debt reported to be at RM9.5 billion.
In 2009, Danaharta and two of its subsidiaries won a
RM589.143 million suit against Tajuddin. The case arose after the tycoon
executed a facility agreement on July 13, 1994 to borrow RM1.792 billion from a
group of syndicated lenders to finance the purchase of a 32 per cent stake in
MAS. However, from 1994 to 1998, he failed to service the original loan,
causing it to become a non-performing loan.
In 1998, Danaharta acquired the NPL from the lenders but
Tajuddin also failed to settle his debts to Danaharta until it was in default
of RM1.41 billion as of Oct 8, 2001. As part of a settlement agreement,
Tajuddin was to pay RM942 million in four instalments over three years and he
was permitted to redeem his charged shares at a minimum price per
share.Tajuddin, however, defaulted in the payment of the quarterly interest
payable under the settlement agreement and on April 27, 2002, the plaintiffs
terminated the settlement agreement and demanded RM1.61 billion from him.
On April 29, 2002, Danaharta, together with its subsidiaries
Danaharta Urus Sdn Bhd and Danaharta Managers Sdn Bhd, sold part of the charged
shares consisting entirely of Technology Resources Industries shares at RM2.75
per share, resulting in total proceeds of RM717.39 million. As at December 31,
2005, the amount outstanding was RM589.14 million and on May 11, 2006,
Danaharta and the subsidiaries commenced action to recover the money.
Why then would the Finance Ministry and the government of
Malaysia even want to go into an out of court deal with someone who has over
and over again shown he cannot afford to pay back his debt?
Even
Lorrain has gone
This move to “clean” the slate of cases involving top
government figures comes suspiciously hot on the heels of the demise of former
Bumiputera Malaysia Finance chairman Lorrain Esme Osman of the BMF-Carrian
Group scandal. A scandal many suspected involved the highest echelon of
Malaysian politics, a scandal with links all the way up to the then Prime
Minister, Mahathir Mohamed.
The decision to settle the claims against Tajuddin Ramli
continued to raise even more eye-brows when you take into account the directive
to MAS and Danaharta, that all claim documents be passed over to the firm of
Hasfarizam Wan and Aisha Mubarak, a known UMNO lawyer. A clear sign that UMNO
has vested interest in seeing this case against Tajuddin Ramli settled and
buried. The reasons are not made public yet, but one can smell the connection
between Najib Razak and his need to curry favour with Mahathir Mohamed.
Another
'I help you, you help me'
So why is Najib Razak so keen to gain the good graces of
Mahathir Mohamed? Did Najib and wife Rosmah Mansor want something in return? A longer
stay in power, perhaps?
This latest "drop-all-claims" order also followed
the share swap by MAS and AirAsia, giving Tony Fernandes a major stake in the
troubled airline. It is no secret that Tony Fernandes is a close associate to
both Najib Razak and Mahathir Mohamad. Tony is now the one tasked with steering
MAS back into profits, but whether he can succeed remains to be seen.
It is indeed ironical that on one hand, Najib pulls a
bail-out to save MAS from the red and yet at the same time, also 'saves' the
man who put MAS into the red in the first place.
Something big is brewing for sure. Some say this is part of
Mahathir's move to clean up his trail just in case Pakatan Rakyat wins at the
next general election. Yes, he has to be careful to scrub away all the dirt
now.
Yet, there are others who say, don't be naive. To these
cynics, this deal was done because there was new 'gain' for all involved. A new
durian had fallen so to speak, and rushing to partake of its luscious, yellow
fruit were the usual 'geng UMNO'.
But either way, it is a sad legacy for octagenarian Mahathir
Mohamad, his once trusty finance minister Daim Zainuddin, the lacklustre Najib
Razak and his ambitious wife Rosmah.
Source : MC
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