DPMM faction withdraws suit against former president

A rival faction within the Malay Chamber of Commerce Malaysia (DPMM) today withdrew its lawsuit against the chamber's ex-president Rizal Faris Mohideen Abdul Kadir (above) and another person over alleged dubious transactions greenlighted by Rizal Faris.

Lawyer for the 18 plaintiffs, Matthew Thomas Philip, submitted the request before Kuala Lumpur High Court judge Azimah Omar.

Philip told the judge that they wished to retract the legal action as the whole matter had become academic, following one of the 18 - Syed Hussein Alhabshee - winning the DPMM presidential election on June 15.

"As our client (Syed Hussein) was appointed DPMM president at its 53rd annual general meeting (AGM) on June 15, this matter (legal action) has been rendered academic," the lawyer said.

Azimah then allowed the withdrawal of the suit, ordering the plaintiffs to pay RM8,000 in costs to each of the two defendants, namely Rizal Faris and former DPMM secretary-general Don Nazwim Don Najib.

The plaintiffs were Syed Hussein and 17 DPMM exco members.

It was reported that the initial dispute revolved around allegedly dubious transactions made by Rizal Faris.

Don Nazwim had called for an exco meeting on Nov 8 last year during which only its annual general meeting and the treasurer's reports would be discussed.

The meeting was cancelled at the last minute when a rival faction of 18 exco members, led by deputy president Syed Hussein, said it wanted to raise the matter of certain transactions carried out by Rizal Faris and hold an extraordinary general meeting instead.

The faction subsequently filed an originating summons to force Rizal Faris, Don Nazwim and DPMM to hold an EGM.

It was alleged that RM5 million supposedly allocated to the DPMM by the Prime Minister's Office during the tenure of Najib Abdul Razak was deposited into the account of the Yayasan DPMM Pulau Pinang Bhd – said to be controlled by Rizal Faris – without prior approval from the exco.

The rival faction's grouses also stem from the sale of two Plaza Damansara properties for a sum of RM11.6 million. They claimed that RM5.4 million of the sum was used for the 14th general election without the exco's approval.

Additionally, the exco members also alleged that another RM1 million, given by a company named Redberry, was also used for election campaigning without their permission.

They claim that these transactions were raised to Rizal after the general election, but that he had failed to provide a clear explanation.

[More to follow] - Mkini