MDV allowed to recover RM109mil loan from ex-biodiesel producer, 4 others

The High Court, however, dismisses the company's second suit against eight parties for fraud and conspiracy.

The Kuala Lumpur High Court ruled that the defendants had failed to establish, on a balance of probabilities, that a binding compromise had been reached between them and Malaysia Debt Ventures Bhd towards extinguishing the debt.

KUALA LUMPUR:

 The High Court here has allowed government-linked Malaysia Debt Ventures Bhd (MDV) to recover about RM109 million from a former biodiesel producer and four others in a suit over outstanding loan repayment.

Justice Atan Mustaffa Yussoff Ahmad, however, dismissed MDV’s second suit for fraud and conspiracy against eight parties.

In the first suit, Atan ordered Platinum Nanochem Sdn Bhd, Graphene Nanochem Plc and the directors of the Platinum Group in 2011 to repay the loan amount, along with 8% annual interest calculated from June 2018 until the judgment sum is fully paid.

He also ordered the defendants to pay MDV RM75,000 in costs.

Delivering his judgment online, Atan found that the defendants had failed to establish, on a balance of probabilities, that a binding compromise had been reached between the disputing parties towards extinguishing the debt.

Both suits concern a RM110 million revolving project financing facility granted in 2011 by MDV to Platinum Nanochem, then a leading biodiesel producer in Malaysia.

Graphene Nanochem is the parent company of the Platinum Group, which includes Platinum Nanochem. Graphene Nanochem was until 2018 a public company listed on the London Stock Exchange.

Graphene Nanochem acted as the corporate guarantor for the financing facility, while the directors of the Platinum Group served as the personal guarantors.

The defence put forward by the defendants was that there was a compromise reached between the parties involving the conversion of the MDV debt into listed shares.

This was to be done through a reverse takeover exercise on the London Stock Exchange involving an Australian based conglomerate, the Coulter Group, in which MDV was to emerge as a shareholder of Graphene Nanochem post-completion of the exercise.

However, the exercise fell through in April 2018.

The second suit

In the second suit, MDV alleged that the Platinum Group conspired with two suppliers – Antara Commodities Sdn Bhd and Asian Food Ingredients Sdn Bhd – to misuse the facility for purposes outside the scope of the master facility agreement.

The defendants – Platinum Nanochem, its sister company Platinum Green Chemicals Sdn Bhd, Antara Commodities, Asian Food Ingredients, and the directors of the Platinum Group – deny any wrongdoing.

They claimed that the financing had at all material times been utilised in accordance with industry practice.

Atan, in his broad grounds, held that MDV had, on the balance of probabilities, failed to prove that the defendants had conspired with each other to cause harm.

He ordered MDV to pay Antara Commodities, Asian Food Ingredients and the individual directors a total of RM200,000 in costs.

Lawyers Kumar Kanagasingam and Chia Oh Sheng appeared for MDV, while Mavin Thillainathan and Afiqah Aina Zakirah represented the Platinum Group and its directors.

Counsel Trevor De Silva appeared for Antara Commodities, and Harikannan Raghavan and Barvina Ponnusamy represented Asian Food Ingredients. - FMT