KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 7): Boustead Holdings Bhd wants to include Boustead Hyde Park Ltd (Boustead BVI) as the second plaintiff in its suit against its former chairman Tan Sri Mohd Ghazali Che Mat, ex-managing director Tan Sri Che Lodin Wok Kamaruddin, and four others who previously sat on Boustead’s board.
Boustead BVI is a subsidiary of Boustead that was incorporated in the British Virgin Islands. It owns the Hyde Park Hotel in the UK, which was purchased from Pastel Estate Ltd in July 2014.
Boustead re-filed the writ against Ghazali, Lodin, Datuk Azzat Kamaluddin, Datuk Francis Tan Leh Kiah, Datuk Seri Ghazali Mohd Ali and Datuk Wira Dr Megat Abdul Rahman Megat Ahmad, who were directors of Boustead at the material time of the transaction.
Lawyer Steven Cheok Hou Cher, who represented Boustead, informed High Court judicial commissioner Liza Chan Sow Keng today that it intends to include a second plaintiff in the suit.
“We also wish to inform the court that we have yet to serve the writ to the first five defendants. Only the sixth defendant (Tan) is represented here today,” the lawyer said.
Tan is represented by law firm Messrs Sreenevasan Young.
Following this, Chan asked Tan's lawyer to file an affidavit in reply to Boustead's application to amend the writ by Sept 18, after which Boustead must respond by Oct 2.
The court has fixed Oct 9 to hear the application to include the second plaintiff.
When asked by theedgemarkets.com after proceedings ended, Cheok did not disclose the identity of the second plaintiff.
However, a file search yielded an affidavit by Boustead’s managing director Amrin Awaluddin which affirmed its intention to insert Boustead BVI as the second plaintiff on Sept 3.
The listed company re-filed the suit last month against all six defendants for purported breach of fiduciary duty and is seeking from them a sum of £6.4 million (RM35.37 million).
The suit was initially filed at the High Court’s civil division before it was ordered to be transferred to the commercial division, where Chan presides.
While the writ did not stipulate what the fiduciary duty was, Amrin’s affidavit stated that the six defendants were named as they were the office bearers when the sales and purchase agreement of the hotel was signed with Pastel on July 24, 2014.
The 54-year-old MD claimed that all six have a responsibility to act honestly and in good faith. They also had a duty of fidelity and to not place themselves in a position of conflict of interests, act in the interests of Boustead and Boustead BVI, and act with reasonable care, skill and diligence. They should also not act to their advantage.
For these reasons, Amrin wants Boustead BVI to be inserted in the suit.
Boustead, a diversified conglomerate in which Lembaga Tabung Angkatan Tentera has a 59.42% stake, confirmed the filing of the suit last month.