MPs push for PSC probe on Tajudin's settlement

Pakatan Rakyat parliamentarians will press for a parliamentary select committee (PSC) to be set up to probe the out-of-court settlement between former Malaysia Airlines (MAS) chairperson Tajudin Ramli and government-linked companies (GLCs).

This will be done very  soon, if the government continues to refuse to  shed light on the settlement, since millions of ringgit were involved.
PAS chief whip Salahuddin Ayub (left) vowed to pursue an explanation from the government, after all questions from him and other opposition MPs on the matter today were rejected by Parliament on grounds of sub judice.

“We will continue to demand an answer. What is so special about Tajudin Ramli. Why should he enjoy impunity?

“If the National Feedlot Corporation issue can be solved through Parliament, we also want the Tajudin Ramli case to be solved here,” Salahuddin told a press conference at the Parliament lobby.

Should the PSC be set up, he said, the committee members would summon the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to explain why no action had been taken against Tajudin despite abundant evidence having been submitted.

Tajudin sealed an out-of-court settlement with assets management firm Pengurusan Danaharta Bhd recently despite owing millions of ringgit and having been sued by the GLCs.

On Dec 7, 2009, the Kuala Lumpur High Court ordered Tajudin to pay Danaharta RM589.14 million with a two percent annual interest, backdated to Jan 1, 2006.

The quantum was linked to loans taken by Tajudin to buy a majority stake in MAS.

In view of Tajudin’s confidential settlement with Danaharta, the RM589.14 million he was ordered to pay the firm was dropped.

It has been reported that the government instructed the GLCs to end the long-drawn out legal battle with Tajudin, which outraged the opposition MPs.

MAS, when Tanudin was chairperson, reportedly incurred a loss of between RM4 billion and RM8 billion, Salahuddin said.

He also said that former MASKargo senior manager Ong Jyh Jung and chairperson Shaari Sulaiman had in 2005 and 2009 submitted documentary evidence to MACC, citing irregularities in MAS during Tajudin’s tenure.

Former police commercial crimes department chief Ramli Yusoff had also, in 2008, recommended that the Attorney-General’s Chambers acts against Tajudin, Salahuddin added.

“Despite all the reports submitted, there has been not a single response from MACC until today. We would like to know why,” he added.