Dispute with bank: College owner calls for Finance Ministry's intervention

 

A businessperson wants the Finance Ministry to intervene in a dispute he has with a local bank.

Dr Gurpeet Singh claimed that a local bank owned by the ministry, along with the receiver and manager (R and M), is trying to sell his company's real estate at a prime location in Kuala Lumpur at a below-market price.

This is being done on the grounds that there are arrears in loan payments from the bank.

Relating his case, Gurpeet, 37, said that his company, which is a college located on Jalan Ipoh, Kuala Lumpur, obtained a loan of RM18 million from the bank in 2014 for the purpose of the college’s daily operations.

"I made monthly payments until the end of 2018 before facing some difficulties in college management. Since then, I have repaid almost RM10 million.

"However, at the beginning of 2019, our operations were slightly affected, causing us problems with payments. The situation worsened in 2020 due to the enforcement of the movement control order (MCO),” he said.

Taken to court

When he wanted to reopen his college for physical classes in January 2022, he claimed the bank appointed a receiver and manager and seized the college - thus preventing his company from continuing operations.

According to him, the bank appointed a second receiver and manager in September 2022 after he filed a case in court as he was dissatisfied with the actions of the first one.

The college was still seized under the second receiver and manager but it was stated in a notice that the bank would be selling off Gurpeet’s properties to settle the balance of his loan.

"I was surprised because the two properties were worth RM37 million and they wanted to sell them at a price of only around RM11 million.

"After I rejected the proposal, I received a call from the bank saying that the bank agreed with the receiver and manager's proposal to sell our property at a price far below the market price.

Gurpeet said that when he appealed to ask for a six-month extension to settle the loan, the bank rejected it.

“I feel that the bank’s decision to agree to sell our property for the remaining loan is unfair when I have already repaid more than 50 percent of the total loan.

"All the service sectors were badly affected during the MCO. The bank under the Finance Ministry should help businesspersons like us. Instead, it acts only to focus on profit.

“I hope the ministry will give us a chance to save our property from the bank," he added.

Gurpeet has written a letter to the Finance Ministry pleading his case.

When contacted, a representative of the bank declined to comment.

"This case is in legal proceedings. Therefore, we believe that legally, no party has the right to comment on this matter where any violation will expose the responsible party to contempt of court, sub-judice rules.

"As a development financial institution, the bank has a strict obligation to maintain confidentiality and must take all necessary actions to preserve and protect its rights, including filing a police report," the representative told Malaysiakini.

Malaysiakini has also contacted the Finance Ministry for further response. - Mkini