KINIBIZ Property developer Talam Transform Bhd (formerly Trinity Corp Bhd) has filed a statement of claim with the High Court seeking RM324 million in damages for defamation from politician Chua Tee Yong, court documents obtained by KiniBiz show.
Tee Yong, the son of MCA president Dr Chua Soi Lek and the member of parliament for Labis constituency in Johor, had come out in early July 2012 accusing the Selangor government and Talam of a RM1 billion accounting scandal, details of which were carried in the newspapers.
Talam in its suit is alleging that Tee Yong's statements to Star Publications (M) Bhd's flagship
The Star
newspaper in July and October last year were defamatory.
Excerpts from the court document say the statements made mean that the plaintiff, Talam, is "a party to dishonest transactions that involved the misappropriation of public funds" and that the plaintiff has benefitted from dubious political favours that the plaintiff's business dealings are "infected with corruption", and the plaintiff is reliant on the Selangor state government "and/or external sources to overcome its financial hurdles", among others.
Tee Yong when asked to comment on the suit, said via SMS: "The claim filed by Talam is being attended to by my solicitors. The allegations made against me are denied and my solicitors will be strenuously defending the claim on my behalf.
"As the dispute is now before the court, I will not be making further statements," he added.
In July last year, Tee Yong hit the news when he accused the Pakatan Rakyat state government which helms Selangor of giving a RM392 million grant to property developer Talam.
He also claimed that the state had acquired RM676 million worth of assets from Talam, which explains the RM1 billion figure Tee Yong states.
Allegations of overpayment
He came under fire as the state explained that the RM392 million was not a grant but part of a "round-tripping" exercise where the state assumed Talam Transform's debt as it was in a better position to squeeze the developer back for the money, compared to its subsidiaries.
There were also allegations raised by Tee Yong that Selangor had
overpaid
for certain parcels of land, thus enriching Talam.
Until early October this year Talam's largest shareholder was Chan Ah Chye @ Chan Chong Yoon, who held some 30 percent of Talam via his flagship Kumpulan Europlus Bhd (K-Euro). Other notable shareholders in K-Euro include construction giant IJM Corp Bhd which has some 23 percent equity interest.
Chan in October this year sold his 28 percent block in K-Euro to tycoon Surin Upatkooon’s MWE Holdings Bhd.
In his heydays in the 90s, Chan was said to be closely linked with the then Selangor menteri besar Muhammad Muhammad Taib, and Talam was the envy of many as it had a massive land bank.
Muhammad was an Umno strongman, but he joined the opposition PAS in April this year.
For its six months ending July 2013, Talam suffered a net loss of RM7.38 million from RM41.26 million in revenue, and registered a loss per share of 18 sen for the six months in review.
Talam ended trading at 6.5 sen.
