We're sued for contract we were never involved in, says Iris Corp

Iris Corporation Bhd has claimed that the company is being sued for a contract in which it never got involved.

In a Bursa Malaysia filing dated Sept 6, 2016, Iris denied being part of a sub-contract agreement sealed between Dipon (M) Sdn Bhd and Bitara Abadi Sdn Bhd three years ago.

Iris, in which Felda Investment Corporation Sdn Bhd (FIC) holds a 21.33 percent stake, was named as the second defendant in a RM2.4 million suit filed by Dipon on Aug 22, 2016.

The first defendant is Bitara Abadi, a trading company set up in 1993.

Bitara Abadi had struck a deal with an outsourcing company, Data-edge-i-People Consortium, back in 2014 for the distribution of machine readable passports (MRP) among Bangladeshis at sites in Malaysia.

Through another sub-contract agreement with Dipon, Bitara Abadi appointed Dipon to provide and supply Bangladeshi workers at the application receiving centres.

According to the Companies Commission of Malaysia, Dipon is a consultancy services company set up at Solaris Dutamas in Kuala Lumpur.

Dipon in its legal suit claims that payments received under the sub-contract between Bitara Abadi and Data-edge-i-People Consortium were controlled by Iris.

The company said it was not paid for the performance of its obligations under the Bitara Abadi-Dipon agreement and sued Iris for monies owed and payable under the deal.

Conflict of interest?

In the Bursa Malaysia filing, Iris denied being a part of the Bitara-Dipon sub-contract agreement.

It also informed Bursa Malaysia that the managing director of Bitara Abadi was also the deputy managing director of Iris.

"This is a conflict of interest and Bursa Malaysia should have reprimanded (the director)," a source who is familiar with Iris told Malaysiakini.

"The other party claimed that Bitara Abadi and Iris are the same company. That is ridiculous as there is no nexus at all," the source added.

The source also said Iris was "indirectly" run by FIC as the IT solution company's executive council was headed by an FIC director.

"Nik Azman Mohd Zain was appointed into Iris' board of directors because he is an FIC director. He should be a non-independent and non-executive director, but he is also the chairperson of the executive council," said the source.

Another FIC director, Noor Ehsanuddin Mohd Harun Narrashid, also sits on the board of directors of Iris.

When contacted, Iris chairperson Razali Ismail said the GLC is looking into the position held by Nik Azman.

"I have (instructed) someone to find out how proper it is. But this is done for a particular purpose.

"He chaired the executive council. It is true and we cannot deny that," Razali said.

Noor Ehsanuddin, who is Kota Tinggi MP, declined to comment.

Malaysiakini has emailed Nik Azman and is awaiting his response.- Mkini