This article first appeared in The Edge Malaysia Weekly on August 1, 2022 - August 7, 2022

YOU would think that Ultra Kirana Sdn Bhd (UKSB), which has been in the news over the RM70 million it told the court it has paid to politicians, would be a highly profitable company.

Think again. According to company filings from 2015 to 2020, it has suffered losses in two years and posted paltry profits the rest of the time.

So what happened to the hundreds of millions from the lucrative contract it received from the Home Ministry to process visas for travellers coming into Malaysia from China?

It is clear that there is more than meets the eye over how UKSB operates its business and its financials, more specifically its lack of profitability, which in turn raises questions as to how the company managed to pay out more than RM70 million to at least 11 politicians.

From February 2013 to October 2019, UKSB operated visa facilitation services in China for Malaysia-bound travellers, following the inking of an agreement with the Malaysian government in 2012 to provide such services.

In an ongoing corruption trial, former deputy prime minister and home minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi is charged with receiving RM42 million in kickbacks from UKSB for helping the company extend its visa processing contract and expand its business to other regions in Asia.

At the ongoing court hearing, UKSB’s former administrative manager David Tan Siong Sun told the court that over the years, it had paid out more than RM70 million to 11 politicians, whom he named, including Ahmad Zahid. That figure is only the amount revealed so far.

“With UKSB’s weak financials, it’s a wonder why the company (executives) sought an extension (to its existing business in China) or looked to venture into other parts of Asia. It (UKSB) didn’t make much profit, if its accounts are accurate, which raises the question why the company (executives) even paid such exorbitant amounts in political donations,” asks an observer.

UKSB’s directors at the time — between February 2013 and October 2019 — were Wan Quoris Shah Wan Abdul Ghani, Harry Lee Vui Khuin and Fadzil Ahmad. Fadzil is still a director of UKSB. In addition to being a director of UKSB, Lee has a 7.91% stake in SHH Resources Holdings Bhd while Wan Quoris has 1.7% stake in the furniture company. From November 2014 to February 2015, Lee also held a substantial stake of 5.66% in Raya International Bhd, which is now Straits Energy Resources Bhd. Wan Quoris is known in United Malays National Organisation (Umno) circles as Wan Badak.

Checks with the Companies Commission of Malaysia reveal that UKSB is wholly owned by Seri Optima Sdn Bhd, which has a paid-up capital of just RM100 and is wholly owned by Fadzil.

Another company that is wholly owned by Seri Optima is Makro Baru Sdn Bhd, which has a paid-up capital of RM10 and whose business is stated as “outsourcing visa facilitation services”. But Makro Baru too is small. Between the financial years ended June 30, 2017 (FY2017) and FY2021, its highest revenue was RM13.98 million (FY2018). It reported no revenue in FY2021.

While talk is rife that there are powerful, well-connected personalities behind UKSB, this remains unsubstantiated and is likely to be difficult to prove. And are the authorities even interested in finding out?

UKSB has not performed well. In the financial years (ended Dec 31) FY2015 to FY2020, UKSB posted after-tax profits only in FY2015 to FY2017, and that too of just between RM114,572 and RM2.82 million in each year. UKSB’s best financial performance was in FY2017, when it registered an after-tax profit of RM2.82 million on the back of RM33.87 million in revenue.

The company’s total revenue from FY2015 to FY2020 was RM91.89 million, so how did it fork out over RM70 million as “political donations”?

All the politicians named in court — former prime ministers Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, Defence Minister Datuk Seri Hishamuddin Hussein, Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin, Housing and Local Government Minister Datuk Seri Reezal Merican Naina Merican, former transport minister and Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA) deputy president Tan Sri Chan Kong Choy, former MCA secretary-general and former second minister for International Trade and Industry Tan Sri Ong Ka Chuan, former foreign minister Tan Sri Anifah Aman and Umno information chief Shahril Sofan Hamdan — have denied receiving any money from UKSB. Parti Warisan president and Semporna Member of Parliament Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal declined to comment when questioned by a Malay language portal.

Ahmad Zahid, meanwhile, has said that the RM42 million he received was a political donation and not a bribe.

“A political donation by itself is not an offence, but whether what UKSB paid to Zahid is a political donation or a bribe will be decided by the court,” says the observer. “The question that should be asked beyond the trial is this — if UKSB is not profitable, where did the RM70 million come from?”

UKSB’s Tan, who is the prosecution’s 17th witness in Ahmad Zahid’s trial, has said that UKSB did not have the funds to make political donations and that the money came from its business partner in Hong Kong, which channelled funds into Malaysia via money changers.

So, who is this Hong Kong business partner of UKSB’s and what is the nature of the relationship between the two parties for it to send large amounts of money to UKSB? Is the arrangement between the two a service contract that enables UKSB to channel money out of the country and thereby report losses at home to avoid paying taxes? If not, what sort of business arrangement is it? And what benefit does the Hong Kong partner derive from forking out these amounts of money to local politicians on behalf of UKSB?

Shouldn’t the authorities be looking into this angle as well?

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