Thursday 28 Mar 2024
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KUALA LUMPUR: The feud between Protasco Bhd and its non-executive director and substantial shareholder Tey Por Yee has taken an astonishing new twist.

Protasco had filed a legal suit against Tey earlier. He is now suing the company and its senior management for the return of RM10 million to Protasco and general damages purportedly suffered by it.

Tey had also requested for an emergency board meeting to remove Protasco’s managing director Datuk Seri Chong Ket Pen from the board. Protasco chairman Tan Sri Hadenan Abdul Jalil has adjourned the meeting to Friday.

On Monday, Protasco announced that two substantial shareholders, UOBM Nominees (Tempatan) Sdn Bhd and Tan Heng Kui, who collectively hold a 10.51% stake, wanted to remove Tey and another director, Ooi Kock Aun, from the board.

Speaking to the media yesterday, Tey, who owns 16.68%, claimed that Protasco through its subsidiaries had paid a total of RM16 million to PT Goldchild Integritas for bitumen and coal trading with Indonesia. Of this RM16 million, RM10 million was channelled back to RS Maha Niaga Sdn Bhd, whose shareholders are senior management executives of Protasco.

Tey claimed that a paper trail of money provided evidence that the amount paid by Protasco was flowed through layers of companies before a RM10 million cheque was drawn and paid for the benefit of Maha Niaga’s account with United Overseas Bank (Malaysia) Bhd.

“Our evidence shows Protasco senior management are the ones making the secret profit. Chong has betrayed the trust of Protasco shareholders. We are being made the scapegoat to cover this major breach of the shareholders’ trust,” alleged Tey, adding that Ooi has lodged a police report on the alleged money trail on Monday.

Beside Protasco, the other defendants named in the suit include Chong, his son Kenny Chong Ther Nen, Protasco project director of property development Edward Khoo Mong Wei and corporate adviser Lim Yew Ting, Protasco Trading Sdn Bhd general manager Low Kian Seng and Maha Niaga.

In response to Tey’s derivative action, Protasco announced to Bursa Malaysia that it has appointed lawyers to counter the allegations  by Tey, who is suing via his private vehicle Kingdom Seekers Ventures Sdn Bhd.

“The company has appointed a firm of solicitors to represent the company and oppose the foregoing suit. The company wishes to state that the suit filed by Kingdom Seekers has no significant immediate adverse effect on the current financial position of Protasco,” it said.

In a late statement yesterday, Chong said he intends to lodge a police report with respect to the allegations made against him.

“Even at this early stage, I am compelled and constrained to categorically deny the allegations levelled against me and the other defendants in the said derivative action [which] is completely devoid of merit and appears to have been actuated by malice.

“Clearly, this new [development] amounts to nothing more than an attempt to smear and tarnish my reputation, apart from seeking to divert attention away from the earlier on-going legal proceedings filed by Protasco against Tey and others,” he said.

Chong added that he has appointed solicitors to respond to the derivative action.

The shareholder tussle started when Protasco last month filed a suit against Tey, Ooi and Indonesia’s PT Anglo Slavic Utama (PT ASU) to claim back US$22.2 million (RM71.9 million) it paid in its foiled attempt to buy a 63% stake in oil and gas outfit PT Anglo Slavic Indonesia (PT ASI).

According to a filing with Bursa Malaysia then, Protasco said it was claiming back the purchase price of US$22.2 million that had been paid under the restated sale and purchase agreement dated Jan 28 this year, and damages arising from the breach of contract.

Protasco claimed in the filing that naming Tey and Ooi as defendants in the suit was premised on the breach of their fiduciary and statutory duties, including the duty to disclose their interests in the transaction, conspiracy to defraud Protasco and the “making of secret profit”.

Tey stressed that he is not holding any shares in PT ASU and PT ASI.

“Neither I nor Ooi are directors in PT ASU and PT ASI. Furthermore, I was an ordinary investor when the deal (to buy the 63% stake in PT ASI) was inked. I was appointed to the board in April this year, therefore I have no knowledge of what happened in the past,” he said.

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This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on October 28, 2014.

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