Is Tajudin Ramli squeezing someone's balls...

Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad owes the nation an explanation for pushing Malaysia Airlines System (MAS) to be privatised and Tan Sri Tajudin Ramli’s role in it, Datuk Zaid Ibrahim said today.

Tajuddin, a former MAS chief, was also a poster boy of former Finance Minister Tun Daim Zainuddin’s now discredited policy of nurturing a class of Malay corporate captains on government largesse during the Mahathir administration.

“What everyone wants to know is why MAS was privatised in the first place, and why to Tajudin?” Zaid (picture), a former Umno minister, said in his blog today.

“Here I think Dr Mahathir has to explain what really happened. He has written a lot of books but none that we can believe in. Perhaps he should start writing one that is believable, that at least reflects the true situation surrounding the MAS saga that has still not been resolved until today,” he added.

Dr Mahathir was the country’s longest-serving prime minister, from July 1981 to October 2003.

Zaid, who was the ruling Barisan Nasional’s (BN) de facto law minister, resigned in September 2008 to join PKR, which he left after accusing the opposition party of election fraud in its 2010 party elections, and founded another party, Parti Kesejahteraan Tanah Air (Kita), in December that same year.

Although estranged from Pakatan Rakyat, he has backed its criticism of a recent out-of-court settlement between Tajudin and Pengurusan Danaharta Bhd (Danaharta) and several other government-linked companies (GLCs) for an undisclosed agreement.

Tajudin’s settlement with Danaharta on February 14 came after a lengthy legal dispute following a High Court decision in December 2009 ordering the ex-MAS chief to pay the state asset management manager RM589.14 million plus two per cent interest per year, backdated to January 1, 2006.

“Since the settlement was conducted in secret, allow me to guess the terms of the deal: Tajudin was not required to pay a single sen to Danaharta or any of the GLCs; instead, the government will pay Tajudin RM6.5 billion (or half of what he had claimed),” Zaid said.

“Tajudin will then be generous in his contributions to the party coffers for the upcoming general election,” he added.

Zaid said his claim was mere conjecture “but what else can a citizen do when the government hides its fraudulent conduct from the people?”

“At the same time, it’s also possible that my guess is spot on. With this desperate government, everything is possible,” he said.

The case between Danaharta and Tajudin arose after he executed a facility agreement on July 13, 1994 to borrow RM1.79 billion from a group of syndicated lenders to finance his purchase of a 32 per cent stake in MAS.

However, from 1994 to 1998 he failed to service the original loan, causing it to become a non-performing loan (NPL).

In 1998, Danaharta acquired the NPL from the lenders but Tajuddin also failed to settle his debt to Danaharta until it was in default of RM1.41 billion as at October 8, 2001. As part of a settlement agreement, Tajudin was to pay RM942 million in four instalments over three years and that he was permitted to redeem his charged shares at a minimum price per share.

Tajudin, however, defaulted in the payment of the quarterly interest payable under the settlement agreement and on April 27, 2002, the plaintiffs terminated the settlement agreement and demanded RM1.61 billion from him.

On April 29, 2002, Danaharta, together with its units Danaharta Urus Sdn Bhd and Danaharta Managers Sdn Bhd sold part of the charged shares consisting entirely of Technology Resources Industries (TRI) shares at RM2.75 per share, resulting in total proceeds of RM717.39 million.

As at December 31, 2005, the amount outstanding was RM589.14 million and on May 11, 2006, Danaharta and the subsidiaries commenced action to recover the money.

Tajudin had alleged in his affidavit that it was Dr Mahathir and Daim who directed him in 1994 to buy a controlling stake in MAS to bail out the government.

Tajudin claimed that his purchase was a forced “national service”, disguised as an arm’s length commercial deal, because the government wanted to appease the investment community and the public.

Dr Mahathir, however, denied in his autobiography published last March that he and Daim had forced Tajudin to bail out MAS in 1994 for RM1.8 billion, claiming instead that Tajudin was “elated” over his purchase.- malaysian insider

Zaid pokes fun at Tajudin-GLCs settlement

Former minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Zaid Ibrahim today poked fun at the confidentiality in Tajudin Ramli’s settlement with several government-linked corporations (GLCs).

Zaid (left) said since the settlement was conducted in secret, it was of public interest for it to be disclosed to the people.

He then hypothetically guessed the terms of the deal in his blog posting.
 
“Tajudin was not required to pay a single sen to Pengurusan Danaharta Nasional Bhd or any of the GLCs; and instead, the government will pay Tajudin RM6.5 billion (or half of what Tajudin is claiming).

“Tajudin will then be generous in his contributions to the party coffers for the upcoming general election. Yes, I am making this up, but what else can a citizen do when the government hides its fraudulent conduct from the people? At the same time, it’s also possible that my guess is spot on. With this desperate government, everything is possible,” he remarked in his blog posting.

On Feb 14, it was reported that Tajudin had withdrawn his appeal and the GLCs had agreed to settle the RM589 million suit. This was despite the Kuala Lumpur High Court having ordered Tajudin to pay RM589 million to Danaharta in 2009.

Petaling Jaya Utara MP Tony Pua claimed last week that his inside sources revealed that the RM589 loan debt by Tajudin had been written off.

Zaid said the settlement with Tajudin was the culmination of a six-year civil suit over debts that Tajudin accumulated in the purchase of MAS shares from Bank Negara in the early 1990s.

The former minister, who is also a lawyer, said in striking out Tajudin’s RM13 billion counter-claim, the once high-flyer had threatened to bring former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad into the picture.

‘Why privatise MAS?’

Zaid, who is also Kita president, said Tajudin maintained he was asked to take over the national airline, and was assured that he would be fully indemnified by the government; hence, the RM13 billion claim.

“Now whilst the court case was going on, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Nazri Abdul Aziz issued a directive to GLCs not to pursue the case against Tajudin, even though they had won their case at the High Court level.  

“Apparently, BN doesn’t recognise that these companies are independent of the government in terms of their management. These companies have their own respective boards of directors who owe a legal and statutory duty to the companies and the other shareholders they represent. To BN what doesn’t benefit them automatically cannot benefit anyone else.”

So, Zaid said, the GLCs and Danaharta were not permitted to pursue their legitimate interests.

Then he asked Mahathir why had the government privatised MAS in the first place and why Tajudin was selected.

“Here, I think Mahathir has to explain what really happened. He has written  many books but none are any that we can believe in.
 
Perhaps he should start writing one that is believable, that at least reflects the true situation surrounding the MAS saga that has yet to be resolved until today.”

Today, MAS chief executive officer Ahmad Jauhari Yahya announced that for the nine months ending Sept 30, 2011, MAS incurred a RM1.209 billion pre-tax loss as compared to a RM23.73 million profit, for the same period in 2010. Ahmad Jauhari said MAS’ priority now is to stem the losses. - malaysiakini
 

PKR’s Subang MP Sivarasa Rasiah believes former Malaysia Airlines System chairperson Tajudin Ramli may have a hold on “someone powerful in the government”, since no criminal charges have been preferred against him and he obtained a relatively lenient out-of-court settlement.
 
Speaking at a press conference in Tropicana, Sivarasa (left) said the same could be asked of the lack of criminal action taken against Tajudin, despite the several police reports and a Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission report against him by the senior management of MASKargo in 2007.

“Who is this person who is so powerful in the Malaysian government, in the cabinet probably, that Tajudin is able to squeeze so hard that he can do all this?” he asked.

 

“Two people who can start helping us answer this question are ministers in the Prime Minister’s Department Idris Jala and Nazri Abdul Aziz, who has been in the news talking about the settlements,” he said.

Sivarasa said Idris could shed some light as he took over as MAS CEO in 2007 and had, according to the MASKargo MACC report, briefed the then prime minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi on the alleged wrongdoings by Tajudin in the same year.

Bribery allegations

Referring to the report, which was purportedly lodged under instruction by MAS’ management, Sivarasa said Tajuddin was accused of “bribing” the police and the Attorney-General’s Chambers, resulting in no prosecution. He added that the report, a copy of which was distributed to the press, also alleged that the then-Commercial Crimes Department (CCD) of the police force had found “prosecutable offences”.

In his report to MACC, then MASKargo manageing director Shahari Sulaiman said that then-CCD director Ramli Yusuff had “disclosed that various offences have been identified that are prosecutable”.

“The CCD director also assured the then-PM (Abdullah) that the CCD would also have qualified lawyers in its ranks who can act as prosecuting officers if the AG’s chambers was reluctant to prosecute these offences,” he said.

In December, Business Times reported that Shahari has gone on leave amidst a domestic inquiry since November 2011. It is unclear when he will return to duty.  

Dr M's proxy?

PKR treasurer and Selayang MP William Leong said Tajuddin’s affidavit admitting that he had acted as proxy for then-PM Dr Mahathir Mohamad in the purchase of MAS shares also warrants investigation. He added that the recent the fact that the settlements were “shrouded in secrecy” also strengthens Tajuddin’s claim that he was indeed a proxy.

“If he was a proxy, who was then the real master who should be accountable for ruining he livelihood and economic future of tens of thousands of MAS employees?” he asked.

Tajuddin had recently reached an out-of-court settlement with Danaharta involving the RM589 million debt incurred by the former for his purchase of MAS shares.

Malaysiakini has contacted Tajuddin’s lawyer, Nazri and Idris for comment and is awaiting a reply. - malaysiakini

 

Dr M says sees no need to explain MAS deals...

Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad brushed off today Datuk Zaid Ibrahim’s call that he “write a book” on why Malaysia Airline System (MAS) was privatised to Tan Sri Tajudin Ramli in 1994, saying he was not in charge of the loss-making national carrier.

“I’m not in charge of MAS, how can I write a book? I can make some comments, that’s all,” the former prime minister told reporters today.

Zaid, who was de facto law minister in 2008, wrote in his blog today that Dr Mahathir (picture) must explain by “writing (a book) that is believable, that at least reflects the true situation surrounding the MAS saga that has still not been resolved until today.”

Zaid, who resigned from Umno in September 2008 to join PKR but is now estranged from Pakatan Rakyat (PR), has backed the opposition’s criticism of recent confidential out-of-court settlements between Tajudin and several GLCs.

“Since the settlement was conducted in secret, allow me to guess the terms of the deal: Tajudin was not required to pay a single sen to Danaharta or any of the GLCs; instead, the government will pay Tajudin RM6.5 billion (or half of what he had claimed).

“Tajudin will then be generous in his contributions to the party coffers for the upcoming general election,” he said.

Tajudin’s settlement with Pengurusan Danaharta Bhd (Danaharta) on February 14 came after a lengthy legal dispute following a High Court decision in December 2009 ordering the ex-MAS chief to pay the state asset management manager RM589.14 million plus two per cent interest per year, backdated to January 1, 2006.

But Dr Mahathir, who was PM from 1981 to 2003, insisted today “the government is very sensitive to these things because it may affect the image of the government and the support in the next election.”

“If they have evidence that there was blatant abuse of power they can make a case for it,” he added.

Tajuddin, who was MAS chairman until 2001, was also a poster boy of former Finance Minister Tun Daim Zainuddin’s now discredited policy of nurturing a class of Malay corporate captains on government largesse during the Mahathir administration.

The case between Danaharta and Tajudin arose after he executed a facility agreement on July 13, 1994 to borrow RM1.79 billion from a group of syndicated lenders to finance his purchase of a 32 per cent stake in MAS.

However, from 1994 to 1998 he failed to service the original loan, causing it to become a non-performing loan (NPL).

In 1998, Danaharta acquired the NPL from the lenders but Tajuddin also failed to settle his debt to Danaharta until it was in default of RM1.41 billion as at October 8, 2001.

As part of a settlement agreement, Tajudin was to pay RM942 million in four instalments over three years and that he was permitted to redeem his charged shares at a minimum price per share.

Tajudin, however, defaulted in the payment of the quarterly interest payable under the settlement agreement and on April 27, 2002, the plaintiffs terminated the settlement agreement and demanded RM1.61 billion from him.

On April 29, 2002, Danaharta, together with its units Danaharta Urus Sdn Bhd and Danaharta Managers Sdn Bhd sold part of the charged shares consisting entirely of Technology Resources Industries (TRI) shares at RM2.75 per share, resulting in total proceeds of RM717.39 million.

As at December 31, 2005, the amount outstanding was RM589.14 million and on May 11, 2006, Danaharta and the subsidiaries commenced action to recover the money.

Tajudin had alleged in his affidavit that it was Dr Mahathir and Daim who directed him in 1994 to buy a controlling stake in MAS to bail out the government.

Tajudin claimed that his purchase was a forced “national service”, disguised as an arm’s length commercial deal, because the government wanted to appease the investment community and the public.

Dr Mahathir, however, denied in his autobiography published last March that he and Daim had forced Tajudin to bail out MAS in 1994 for RM1.8 billion, claiming instead that Tajudin was “elated” over his purchase.- malaysian insider

cheers.