Friday 29 Mar 2024
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KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 29): The wife of FGV Holdings Bhd's former chairman Tan Sri Mohd Isa Abdul Samad was among those who went for a further viewing of two luxury condominium units bought by the company, the High Court heard today.

The condominium units at The Troika, KLCC are at the centre of FGV's civil suit against Mohd Isa and the company's former president and group chief executive officer Datuk Mohd Emir Mavani Abdullah.

FGV claims that the condominium units were bought at an inflated price and were misused by Mohd Isa for personal reasons.

The purchase was handled by the directors of Turris Links Sdn Bhd, Mohd Tariq Zakaria and Mohd Zurairi Mustafa, on behalf of FGV. A previous witness in the trial claimed that Mohd Zurairi is a close family friend of Mohd Isa.

Testifying as the plaintiff's witness today was Gavin Chong Tuck Choi, the real estate negotiator who represented Charles Erik Jobson, the seller of the two condominium units.

After confirming that the sale and purchase (S&P) agreements had been signed, Chong said Mohd Zurairi requested for a further viewing of the properties for the benefit of FGV.

"I then arranged and brought Zurairi along with a few personnel of the plaintiff (FGV) to view units A and B (the two  condominium units FGV acquired).

"There were two ladies. They appeared very well dressed. I assumed that they were not employees of the plaintiff due to the way they carried themselves. There were also a few others who were employees of the plaintiff. I cannot recall each of their names.

"However, I do recall that one of the ladies who were present was [Mohd Isa's wife] Puan Sri Bibi [Sharliza Mohd Khalid] because Puan Sri was introduced to me by one of the employees," said Chong.

He added that Bibi was "happy" after viewing the two condominium units.

Chong also said that following the sale, his company, Concept Property Agency, paid a referral fee of RM10,000 to Mohd Tariq.

However, during cross-examination, Mohd Isa's lawyer Lavinia Kumaraendran pointed out that Chong had not kept a record of the people viewing the properties under his watch.

As such, she said Chong had no proof to show to the court that Bibi was indeed part of the FGV team that viewed the property.

Under the code of conduct governed by the Board of Valuers, Appraisers, Estate Agents and Property Managers, a real estate agent should, in good practice, record the names of all the people viewing the premises.

After being pressed by Lavinia, Chong could not name the other lady and other FGV personnel that were present at the viewing.

"He has no records and the document to show who came into the property. And he said that in 2014, there were many people that came in and out of all of the properties that he brought for viewing," Lavinia said when approached by theedgemarkets.com after the court proceedings.

"And he then said six years later, he distinctly remembered that a person called Puan Sri Bibi had come at the very onset. So we challenged him on the fact that there was no document to say that. He doesn't know it. He had only seen her once if at all. There is no record of how we could know that it [was] her at all," the lawyer said.

FGV, in its suit, is seeking damages from Mohd Isa and Mohd Emir, including RM4.54 million for the total acquisition, use and possession of The Troika units, and another RM3.14 million in relation to the pool of cars and petrol benefits allegedly enjoyed by Mohd Emir.

The trial before Judicial Commissioner Quay Chew Soon continues on Thursday.

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Edited ByS Kanagaraju
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