Kadir Jasin guns for Najib’s tycoon friend Sondakh

Highly-placed blogger Kadir Jasin (left) has targeted  Indonesian tycoon Peter Sondakh.

PETALING JAYA: Highly-placed blogger A Kadir Jasin has suggested that Indonesian billionaire Peter Sondakh be asked to buy back shares in a company he sold to Felda, so that the ailing federal agency can recover its money.

He also suggested that Malaysian authorities target other Sondakh-owned assets in Malaysia to help recover Felda money.

Sondakh is reputed to be a close friend of former prime minister Najib Razak.

Kadir said a “put option” was part of the deal when Sondakh sold a 37% stake in Eagle High Plantations to Felda Ventures Holdings Berhad in 2015. The put option was a promise to buy back the shares if Eagle High failed to meet certain conditions.

Kadir, who is media adviser to prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, said the “put option” became effective if Eagle High failed to fulfil the requirements and certification by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) for all its plantations.

“To date, according to media reports, he has only managed to obtain an RSPO certificate for one of its estates,” Kadir said in an article on his personal blog.

In addition Kadir suggested that the authorities target other Sondakh-owned assets in Malaysia, such as several luxury hotels in Kuala Lumpur and Langkawi which he said had been bought or built with loans from local banks, like Bank Pembangunan or in partnership with Khazanah Nasional Berhad.

Kadir said that an independent investigation into Felda’s management conducted after the 2018 general election had revealed that several senior Umno leaders then in the government had a hand in mismanaging the agency.

In April former prime minister Najib Razak had defended Felda’s investment in Eagle High and had urged the Pakatan Harapan-led federal government to make public the agreement signed between the two companies.

His statement was in response to Felda lodging a police report claiming it was cheated by Najib into investing US$505 million (RM2.3 billion) in Eagle High.

Najib said he had called on the government in early February to reveal that a “put option” was part of the agreement, yet Putrajaya remained silent. Najib said the “put option” would allow Felda to sell back its 37% to EHP at the original purchase price plus the 6% annual interest charge borne by EHP.

FMT is attempting to reach Sondakh for comment. - FMT