NO SHOW by Ropiaah: Lawyers deny any attempt to cheat Deepak

Lawyers for Senator Raja Datuk Ropiaah Abdullah today denied her company cheated Deepak Jaikishan’s firm out of a multi-million ringgit land deal as the controversial carpet dealer had asked for a refund.

The controversial businessman has been telling the media this week that the Selangor Wanita Umno chief had stolen his land and resold a portion to a plasticware maker in a joint-venture development.

Raja Ropiaah’s Awan Megah (M) Sdn Bhd’s lawyer Saseedharan Menon suggested that Deepak has no claims over three parcels of land in Bukit Raja as his company Astacanggih Sdn Bhd’s land bond had expired.

The defence also highlighted that Deepak’s solicitors had sent a section 218 notice under the 1955 Companies Act demanding a refund of the RM13 million already paid to Aman Megah, thus terminating any agreements that they had.

“(Do you agree that) you cannot now ask for the land to be transferred?” Menon asked, to which Deepak disagreed.

“We have issued the land bond, and it can be renewed at any time,” Deepak told the court during cross-examination by the defence.

Deepak is represented by lawyer R Sivarasa in the court proceedings presided by High Court Justice Zabariah Mohd Yusof.

He had named Awan Megah together with the Ministry of Defence, government land unit Syarikat Tanah Dan Harta Sdn Bhd and Cebur Megah Development Sdn Bhd in his lawsuit for allegedly cheating him out of millions in a land deal.

The court will continue to hear witness statements this afternoon.

Deepak, who deals in carpets, said he had agreed to buy three parcels of land in 2007 for RM13 million and a RM72 million bank guarantee for a land bond from Raja Ropiaah, who was awarded a RM100 million privatisation deal for the development of the defence research centre called Pusat Pengajian Pertahanan Nasional (Puspahanas).

But the Selangor Wanita Umno chief had allegedly sold one parcel for RM2 million in cash and a RM16 million overdraft facility in a “joint venture” with Guppyunip Sdn Bhd, a company specialising in plasticware, prompting the carpet dealer to put a caveat on the land in Bukit Raja and lodge a police report last July.

Malaysian Insider