KUALA LUMPUR: On Wednesday (Sept 13), the High Court in Kuala Lumpur ordered former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and two others, Tan Sri Halim Saad, and former Finance Minister II Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop, to file their statement of defence by Oct 6. This order is in relation to a lawsuit filed by Halim Saad over the government’s takeover of United Engineers Malaysia (UEM) Bhd and Renong Bhd.
The three defendants were represented by federal counsel Imtiyaz Wizni Aufa Othman, who stated that the court also ordered the plaintiff, Halim, to file a reply to the defence by or on Oct 23. She further added, “The court has scheduled Nov 20 for the next case management, and any interlocutory application must be filed by Nov 20 as well.” This information was provided after the e-Review case management before High Court senior assistant registrar Nik Nur Amalina Mat Zaidan on Wednesday.
Halim Saad initiated the lawsuit on Aug 2 in an attempt to seek compensation for the losses he incurred due to the government’s takeover of Renong Bhd and UEM shares almost 23 years ago. According to his statement of claim, Halim, the former executive chairman and director of Renong, had planned to make a general offer to acquire and privatize UEM, making it a subsidiary of Renong. This move would have granted him full control and ownership of the company.
However, Halim alleges that he was instructed by Dr Mahathir and Nor Mohamed not to pursue the deal as the government had intentions to acquire all UEM shares through Khazanah Nasional Berhad (Khazanah) or a party selected by Khazanah. He stated, “I was also directed to divest my shareholding in UEM and Renong, as well as my directorship of the two companies and their subsidiaries. This obligated me to relinquish control over Renong and UEM to the government and dispose of my shares at a loss.”
According to Halim, Khazanah acquired all UEM shares through its subsidiary, Danasaham Sdn Bhd, and gained control over UEM, which owned 32.6% of Renong shares. Therefore, Halim is seeking compensation for the government’s forced takeover that occurred between July and October 2001, as well as a declaration that he was a Renong shareholder.
In 2013, Halim had previously filed a RM1.8bil suit against the government, Khazanah, and Nor Mohamed. However, the High Court dismissed the suit, and he failed to secure a successful appeal at the Federal Court in 2015. – Bernama
Credit: The Star : News Feed
