Maju Holding sues Lawyer

Maju Holding Sues Lawyer

Lawyer Rosmaniza Osman of Roz and Associate and Rozalind Sakunthala Rajan were jointly charged in the Court today with criminal breach of trust involving RM3 million belonging to Maju Holdings Sdn Bhd.

The funds were believed to have been part of a bid by the construction and steel conglomerate for a major government construction project worth more than RM320 million. Rosmaniza and Rozalind, who were handcuffed together, claimed trial. The complainant was Mohd Fuad Yon, a director of Maju Holdings.

Deputy public prosecutor Awang Armadajaya Awang Mahmud applied for bail at RM3 million in two sureties each. Judge Rosenani Abd Rahman set bail at RM250,000 each and fixed July 24 to 26 for hearing.

What is the story behind the suit?

It was learnt that the lawyer had convinced Tan Sri Abu Sahid that she has the "Right Connection" to assist Maju Holding to secure the RM320 million Resource Center project from Bank Negara and the Kau Tim Fees is RM3 million.

The project was ultimately awarded to a minnow company H & L Niaga Sdn Bhd.

The award surprised major construction companies which had been bidding for the large project, like Ahmad Zaki Resources Bhd, PECD Bhd, Ranhill Bhd and UEM Builders Bhd.

You believe it? A small time lawyer have the ability to influence the award of a mega project from Bank Negara? And even giant and influencial and well-connected Tan Sri Abu Sahid also need to Kau Tim someone to secure a project?

H & I Niaga is owned by Amerudin Ismail (2mil shares) and Ismail Mohd Hashim (3mil shares). H & I Niaga was involved in the problematic project involving the construction of the Royal Malaysian Navy Recruit Training Centre in Kota Tinggi Johor. They are also the contractor for Cheras Velodrome Project and some projects awarded by UiTM.

On 11th October 2005, NST BizTimes reported that H & I Niaga had failed to pay levy owed to CIDB. The company had also failed to submit its profit and loss accounts for the past 3 years to Companies Commission Malaysia and had failed to file its accounts for the financial years ending December 31, 2002 to 2004.

On 18th October (NST report), H & I Niaga issued a two-page statement to explain the issues raised. The company said while it was involved in building the Royal Malaysian Navy Recruit Training Centre in Johor, it was not involved in the construction of the defective roof structure of the hall complex. H & I Niaga went on to say reports of it being reprimanded by government ministers over the Cheras Velodrome project were also untrue as it had completed its job to upgrade and renovate the facility within the stipulated time and had even been given letters of appreciation for the job. The company also answered Fomca’s query on its failure to file its accounts for the years 2002, 2003 and 2004 with the Companies Commission of Malaysia (CCM).

H & I Niaga said it had run into technical difficulties in 2003 when it upgraded its integrated accounts and contracting software from the old DOS standard to the latest Windows version, causing a two-year delay in the filing of its profit and loss accounts.

“The security limitations of the software package only allowed us to input two months of transactions monthly. “As a result, we faced a massive backlog of transactions that need to be input into our new accounting system,” H & I managing director Ismail Mohd Hashim said in the statement. He went on to say that the matter had been highlighted in each of its project tender interviews. H & I Niaga is said to have since resolved the problem and has submitted the company’s audited accounts for the years 2002 and 2003 to CCM, while the final accounts for the financial year ended December 31 2004 have been audited and are pending submission. With regard to the payment of levy to the Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB), H & I Niaga clarified that the levy was for its UiTM Engineering Complex project in Shah Alam which the company and CIDB had agreed upon for H & I Niaga to pay via instalments. “H & I Niaga has paid the instalments until certain disputes with the client arose. H & I Niaga will resolve this issue before October 25 as allowed for by CIDB,” Ismail said.

BANK Negara Malaysia on the same day (18th October 2005, NST) came out to defend its award of a multi-million ringgit contract to construction firm H & I Niaga Sdn Bhd, saying the company was qualified to do the job. The central bank issued a statement yesterday, saying H & I Niaga won the RM320 million contract to build Bank Negara’s resource centre based on merit. “All tenders were reviewed to determine the most competitive bid and the company selected, H & I Niaga Sdn Bhd, is qualified with the ability to complete the project within Bank Negara Malaysia’s specifications,” Bank Negara said. Among the criteria Bank Negara said it had looked into were tender price, track record, financial capability, quality, technical and commercial capabilities of the team that were put together to complete the project.