KUALA LUMPUR (March 16): Hiap Teck Venture Bhd, which is among four listed companies that have been raided by the Royal Malaysian Customs Department (Customs) recently, said today that the enforcement body has completed the audit on two of its subsidiaries.

"The Customs has completed its audit in respect of two of its subsidiaries, and Customs has returned all documents taken into custody and released all bank accounts of a subsidiary [that has been] frozen for the purpose of the audit," the steelmaker told Bursa Malaysia in a bourse filing.

It added that there had been no material effects on the operations of the group, arising from the Customs audit.

Recall that The Edge Financial Daily had reported last month of more than 10 steel companies, including four public-listed companies, having been raided by Customs officers.

One day after the report, Hiap Teck had confirmed the raid, adding that the Customs has taken custody of certain documents of two of its subsidiaries and frozen a bank account of one of the two subsidiaries above, "for purposes of audit and investigation".

Hiap Teck said it was seeking legal advice on steps to be taken to deal with the above-mentioned matter.

It is learnt that the companies that were raided were mainly those involved in the importation of steel pipes or hot-rolled coils (HRC).

Hiap Teck — which imports, exports and deals with steel products, metal hardware and building materials through its subsidiaries — closed 0.5 sen or 1.85% lower at 27 sen today, for a market capitalisation of RM188.92 million.