KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 26): Cuscapi Bhd and its wholly-owned subsidiary Cuscapi Malaysia Sdn Bhd maintain they have strong grounds to dispute a US$3.6 million (RM14.9 million) claim by Hitachi Systems Digital Services (Singapore) Pte Ltd for non-payment of equipment purchased.

In a filing to Bursa Malaysia today, Cuscapi said the company and Cuscapi Malaysia had been served with a statement of claim on Sept 5 on the basis that the companies are jointly liable for such a sum, pursuant to an agreement for the purchase of Rev Hardware Equipment and a corporate guarantee.

Cuscapi said the companies were advised by legal counsel that the agreement and the corporate guarantee which were executed in 2016 during the tenure of the previous management team of Cuscapi may be deemed to be void as these agreements may have been procured for purposes and in a manner which are unusual in the context of the companies' business.

In view of the legal advice, Cuscapi's board of directors is of the opinion that the companies are in a position to dispute the liability of US$3.6 million, or any part thereof, and will continue to take all necessary steps to ensure that the rights and interests of the companies are protected.

In July, Hitachi Systems had served the companies with letters of demand, claiming that Cuscapi Malaysia had not made payments for the purchase of the Rev Hardware Equipment.

Cuscapi shares closed unchanged at 30 sen today for a market capitalisation of RM257 million.