This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on January 17, 2020

KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court has allowed the defamation suits filed by property developer Synergy Promenade Sdn Bhd — namely its suit against former Federal Land Development Authority (Felda) chairman Tan Sri Shahrir Abdul Samad and the one against The New Straits Times Press (Malaysia) Bhd (NSTP) — to be consolidated into one.

Justice Datuk Indera Mohd Sofian Abd Razak allowed the plaintiff’s application in chambers yesterday, as there were no objections. The next case management for the suits has been set for Feb 20.

In June 2018, Synergy Promenade, the master developer for the Kuala Lumpur Vertical City (KLVC) project in Jalan Semarak here, filed the RM100 million suit against Shahrir, alleging the latter had tarnished its image with his statements.

The developer also filed a RM250 million defamation suit against NSTP and a reporter of Berita Harian, claiming that NSTP as the publisher of the Malay daily and its reporter Che Wan Badrul Alias had published inaccurate news articles regarding Synergy Promenade’s involvement in KLVC.

Shahrir was appointed Felda chairman after his predecessor Tan Sri Mohd Isa Abdul Samad left the company following the non-renewal of his contract.

Subsequently, Shahrir resigned from his post on May 14, 2018, when he failed to retain his Johor Baru parliamentary seat in the 14th general election.

The developer was in the spotlight for its involvement in the transfers of 16 parcels of land in Jalan Semarak — measuring 16.06 acres (6.5ha) and worth RM270 million — to itself and its unit Synergy Promenade KLVC Sdn Bhd, through four agreements on Dec 2, 2015 and Nov 7, 2016.

Former deputy minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Razali Ibrahim confirmed in March 2018 that Mohd Isa enabled the land transfers after signing the power of attorney on June 3, 2014, which gave Synergy Promenade the right to convert the land titles to its name.

On June 2, 2014, Felda’s investment arm, Felda Investment Corp Sdn Bhd (FIC), signed a master developer agreement with Synergy Promenade to develop the KLVC, which will feature seven towers, including Felda’s KLVC Tower 1A, on 24 pieces of land. The project reportedly has an estimated gross development value of RM6 billion, and is the largest handled by Synergy Promenade.

The land parcels and their titles, however, were then transferred back — at no cost — to Felda in January 2018, amid a forensic audit of scandal-ridden FIC by an external firm.