Tuesday, March 30, 2021

Deepak seeks court order over land in alleged conspiracy

 


Deepak Jaikishan is seeking a Court of Appeal interim order to prevent two companies from dealing with 223 acres of land linked to an alleged conspiracy and fraud.

The carpet and property businessperson filed the motion, targeting Boustead Holdings Bhd and its subsidiary Bakti Wira Development Sdn Bhd, on Friday last week.

The motion was filed in relation to his ongoing appeal to reinstate a related legal action not only against the two companies but former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak and his wife Rosmah Mansor as well.

On July 17 last year, the Kuala Lumpur High Court allowed an application by Najib, Rosmah Mansor and the two companies to strike out Deepak’s (above) civil suit over a land deal that allegedly caused his company to suffer huge losses. 

His appeal against this High Court ruling is now pending at the Court of Appeal.

According to a copy of the motion sighted by Malaysiakini, the land in question are divided into two plots of land in Kapar and a plot in Bukit Raja, Selangor.

The motion also seeks to restrain Bakti Wira Development from disposing or dealing with 16 million shares in company Astacanggih Sdn Bhd, pending disposal of the main appeal at the Court of Appeal.

Through the court filing, Deepak claimed that the interim order is necessary due to fear that Bakti Wira Development may dispose of the land or the shares.

He alleged that this is fortified by an announcement by Boustead on March 22 this year that seeks an extension of time to comply with an RM2.5 billion bond covenant.

“The concern over the third respondent’s (Boustead Holdings) financial standing is further supported by the winding-up proceedings faced by the third respondent’s subsidiary namely Boustead Naval Shipyard Sdn Bhd and the current outstanding debt of the third respondent amounting to RM5.4 billion.

“To the best of my knowledge, in the past months, the third respondent had been disposing of assets of its subsidiaries.

“Therefore, if the motion herein is not allowed, there is a possibility that the acquired lands may be disposed of by the third respondent via the fourth respondent (Bakti Wira Development) and/or its ultimate subsidiary,” Deepak contended in the court filing.

He claimed that the balance of justice lies with the granting of the interim order to preserve the integrity of the appeal and prevent its outcome from becoming academic and nugatory.

The businessperson also claimed that Boustead Holdings and Bakti Wira Development would not suffer any loss if the interim order is granted, and instead, he would suffer substantial injustice if the motion is denied.

Deepak filed the suit at the High Court in 2018, alleging that he had incurred losses due to the conspiracy, fraud and undue influence by the defendants in a property deal that purportedly caused huge losses to his company. 

He alleged that as a director and majority shareholder of Astacanggih Sdn Bhd, he had signed a land deal with the director and majority shareholder of Awan Megah (M) Sdn Bhd, namely Raja Ropiaah Raja Abdullah, over the three pieces of land.

He alleged that a deposit of RM13 million had been made by Astacanggih to Awan Megah and a land bond for RM72.5 million from the Kuwait Finance House (M) Bhd was given to the government of Malaysia.

However, he contended that Awan Megah refused to produce the original land titles for transfer to Astacanggih.

Deepak claimed that due to the conspiracy and interference from Najib and Rosmah, who were named the first and second defendants respectively, he was forced to sell 80 percent (16 million units) of his shares in Astacanggih to Boustead Holdings through Bakti Wira Development.

He was seeking RM600 million in general damages, RM50 million in exemplary damages and RM26 million in aggravated damages. - Mkini

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