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Monday, March 14, 2011

Sime’s ex-CEO’s case to open a can of worms

KUALA LUMPUR, March 14 — Sime Darby Bhd’s RM338 million lawsuit against its disgraced chief executive Datuk Seri Ahmad Zubir Murshid and four others is expected to be a major exercise of washing dirty linen, with top government officials called to testify about their knowledge of the conglomerate’s operations.

The Malaysian Insider understands that the defendants are going to call Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and his two predecessors, Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad over the suit filed last December.

The suit over RM2.1 billion losses incurred by Sime had named Zubir and four others, Datuk Mohamad Shukri Baharom, the former executive vice-president of the energy and utilities division; the division’s chief financial officer Abdul Rahim Ismail; the division’s oil and gas unit chief Abdul Kadir Alias; and Mohd Zaki Othman, from Sime Engineering.

The defendants are expected to claim that the conglomerate’s loss-making ventures in Bakun and Qatar were public knowledge to even top government leaders.

“They have all been sued for breaches of duties owed to the Sime Darby Group,” the company said in a statement released on December 23, 2010.

In its statement of claim, Sime Darby alleged that the five accused acted as a “decision-making unit” in the energy and utilities division and were responsible for the division’s actions and omissions.

Sime Darby further alleged that the accused had been grossly negligent for allowing Sime Darby Engineering to pursue engineering, procurement, construction, installation and commissioning (EPCIC) projects in which it had no prior experience.

The five men were also accused of awarding EPCIC jobs to similarly inexperienced subcontractors and for failing to pursue claims for work not done.

Sime Darby’s two suits follow its announcement in September that a forensic audit into the energy and utilities division had established a prima facie case of foul play and a failure to carry out its duties and obligations.

The conglomerate’s woes first came to light in May when then-chief executive Ahmad Zubir was asked to take a leave of absence prior to the expiry of his contract following the discovery of RM964 million in cost overruns from the four energy and utilities projects.

The massive cost overruns bled the division and led to the announcement of Sime Darby’s first ever quarterly loss of RM308.6 million that same month.

In the previous corresponding quarter, Sime Darby had posted a profit of RM150.6 million.

February 26, 2009 file photo of then-CEO Ahmad Zubir at a news conference at his Sime Darby office in Kuala Lumpur. — Reuters pic
The losses were the first since its formation in 2007, when it was merged with two other government-controlled plantation groups.

Sources told The Malaysian Insider that among other matters to be disclosed in the suit is the extent of involvement by government leaders, the Cabinet and senior politicians in the running of the public-listed company.

This includes political donations during elections and by-elections. There have been 16 by-elections since the last general election in 2008, eight were won by the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) and the remainder by the Pakatan Rakyat (PR).

There has been some speculation that Sime Darby was planning to sue Ahmad Zubir and others over cost overruns and the handling of a massive groundwater project in Perak and purchase of large tracts of plantation land in Sarawak, which is like to go to the polls next month.

But sources say a prominent member of royalty and a brother of a senior government leader are involved in the groundwater project while a businessman linked to an influential leader in Sarawak is linked to the plantation land deal.

It is understood that investigators are still sifting through the evidence before handing over the file to the Attorney-General’s Chambers for further action

Sime had also filed a RM92.2 million suit against Ahmad Zubir, Shukri and Abdul Rahim for breach of trust and duty over the Bakun Dam project.

The second civil suit, which names Sime Darby and three of its subsidiaries as plaintiffs, was filed at the Commercial Court registry here through law firm Zaid Ibrahim & Co last December 24. - Malaysian Insider

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