Tee Yong's neck on the Talam line: Soi Lek accused of nepotism for sidelining Ka Siong

It looks like Chua Tee Yong, the son of disgraced MCA president Chua Soi Lek, is setting himself up for the political guillotine with a rash of corruption allegations that may soon be debunked to expose his inexperience and immaturity.

Tee Yong is leading an MCA offensive against the Pakatan Rakyat-led Selangor government, accusing it of misappropriating funds over a debt settlement deal with property developer Talam Corporation.

"His facts are not solid. That much we can tell and the knives are already being sharpened to cut open his accusations one by one - fact by fact. I think by the end of it, he would have done Selangor Pakatan a big favour and dug himself and Selangor MCA a giant grave," PKR vice president Chua Jui Meng told Malaysia Chronicle.

Indeed, among the big-wig Pakatan leaders lining up to rebut Tee Yong are Tony Pua, who plans to expose Tee Yong's alleged twisting of facts.

"I am holding a press conference to strip Chua Tee Yong's complicated accounting allegations naked," the DAP MP for Petaling Jaya Utara said on Thursday. Tony has established a name for himself within his party and amongst Malaysian professionals as being a whizz at finance and economic matters.

Rumblings of nepotism, with Ka Siong and Youth wing sidelined

Tee Yong, who inherited his dad's Labis seat, is also the MCA Young Professionals Bureau chief. He has been given the role of 'chief striker' in the MCA's latest bid to claw back political support by exposing corruption within the Pakatan state administrations.

But within MCA, there is anger and accusations that Soi Lek was again practicing nepotism by giving his son the chance to shine ahead of other leaders such as MCA Youth chief Wee Ka Siong.

"Ka Siong has his own supporters and they together with the MCA Youth wing are wondering why Tee Yong should spearhead the attack, when this is the traditional function of the Youth wings in all the political parties," said Jui Meng.

"So if Tee Yong ends up with egg in his face, he will face repercussions not just from the general public but also within MCA. He will go down as another 'daddy's boy' and this is not unfair given that he lacks the political maturity to handle such a task and yet all the big opportunities including the deputy minister's post are given to him on a silver platter."

Indeed, Tee Yong already seems to be encountering some problems in his assault against Selangor Pakatan. Earlier this week, he started by accusing the Selangor government of spending RM1 billion in public funds to 'bail out' Talam.

However, at another press conference this morning, he no longer mentioned that alleged scam but instead made new accusations that the Selangor state government led by PKR Mentri Besar Khalid Ibrahim had overpaid RM42 million for a 916ha plot of land that was part of the Talam debt settlement.

Talam's "exceptional business negotiating skills"

MB Khalid, who has announced he would take legal action after having given Tee Yong 24 hours to think over his 'incorrect' allegations, has explained the deal made by Talam, now known as Trinity Corporation, to the stock exchange Bursa Malaysia yesterday.

In its statement to the Bursa, Trinity said Tee Yong was misinformed in his allegations and that it had paid off its debt to the state via land and asset disposals that were scrutinised by the Securities Commission Assets Valuation Department and by Bursa Securities. It also said it had disposed of lands worth RM676 million in order to clear its RM392 million debt to the state as well as encumbrances attached to the land.

However, Tee Yong dismissed Trinity's explanation. According to the Malaysian Insider, Tee Yong alleged that the troubled property developer had used its “exceptional business negotiating skills” to sell the plot of land in Bestari Jaya to Selangor for RM181 million even though it was merely worth some RM139 million at the time of purchase in 2010.

The Labis MP, citing an October 2010 land valuation report by Mitra Valuers and Property Consultants Sdn Bhd, added that 44 per cent or 410ha of the land in question has “complications”.

These complications, he said, include portions of the land that are underwater (438 acres), are 'forest and ecology reserves' (575 acres) and has a high-tension transmission cable cutting across.

“The question remains in mind now is how did Talam manage to convince Pakatan Rakyat Selangor government to buy this land at such a higher price of RM42 million above the market value, although there is 1,103 acres (410ha) of land with complications and is encumbered?” said Tee Yong at Thursday's press conference.

Allegations based on valuation reports only?

Tee Yong added that according to the valuation report, the land's market value of RM139 million, was provided that it is free from encumbrances, which he said was not the case.

“This deal gives rise to much speculation, either: Talam is good in negotiation, or the Selangor PR government is not aware of the true scenario, or the state is incompetent, or the rakyat's money is not important,” he said.

Yet apart from several pages from the land valuation report, however, Tee Yong did not provide proof that the state government had purchased the land for RM181 million.

He told reporters, “That one, they (Selangor government) can confim. Ask them to confirm. What I understand is that this is a land transaction for the debt recovery exercise. Some parts, the state government used to offset the debt ... some part, the state has to give cash for the land... but the portion, that one I don't know. You need to ask Talam."

Waiting for Talam before going to the MACC

The MCA Young Professionals Bureau chairman had on Tuesday alleged that the Selangor government had bought over Talam Corp's RM676 million assets to clear the firm's outstanding debts.

Tee Yong also dismissed the impending Selangor lawsuit threat, saying that the state government “can do what they want” while he would proceed to do what he felt was necessary.

“I think that they, as a government, should do what they feel is necessary. And I will proceed with my work, with what I feel is necessary,” he said.

He added that he was in the process of receiving more information to back his allegations but said he would only disclose it “slowly” and “in time”.

When asked if he plans to lodge a report with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), Tee Yong said he would first wait for Talam's response to his latest allegation before proceeding with further action.

The Selangor state assembly had approved a supplementary budget of RM391 million for Mentri Besar Incorporated (MBI) in November 2010 to buy over Talam Corp's debt incurred after several failed real estate ventures with state agencies.

Talam Corp had owed Universiti Selangor (Unisel) and Permodalan Nasional Selangor Berhad (PNSB) RM277 million as well as SAP Holdings – a subsidiary of listed company Kumpulan Hartanah Selangor Berhad (KHSB) – RM115 million, or a sum total of RM392 million.

Talam Corp's annual report in 2010 stated that Selangor had also purchased assets worth RM284 million from the companu in addition to recovering its RM392 million debt, or a total of RM676 million.

Following Chua's allegation on Tuesday, Khalid promised his administration would release a “white paper” on Talam Corp's debt restructuring plan at the end of this year, during the Budget 2013 presentation.

Malaysia Chronicle