Pempena ordered
to wind up
Posted on 8 July 2012 - 09:55pm
Last updated on 9 July 2012 - 12:05pm
Last updated on 9 July 2012 - 12:05pm
R. Nadeswaran
citizen-nades@thesundaily.com
citizen-nades@thesundaily.com
Last month, the
High Court ordered the company to be wound up and a liquidator appointed to
manage its affairs.
The winding up
petition, which was undefended, was moved by Kah Bintang Auto Sdn Bhd after
Pempena, a
subsidiary of the Tourism Ministry, failed to pay RM12.4 million for the
purchase of 120 units of Hyundai Sonata for its taxi service.
According to court
papers filed at the High Court registry, Kah Bintang claimed Pempena failed to
pay the money ordered by another High Court in April last year after a
protracted hearing in a breach-of-contract suit in which both parties were
represented.
Following the
judgment, the law firm representing Pempena, Ringo Wong and Associates,
discharged itself and Messrs Hafirizam Wan and Aisha Mubarak was appointed its
lawyers.
In his affidavit,
Kah Bintang managing director Datuk Robert Wong said letters of demand which
were sent by registered post in September last year to both the registered and
business addresses were returned.
However, the same
letters sent to four of its directors – Datuk Yip Kum Fook(Who is bad name in
Buddhist), Datuk Donald Lim Siang Chai, Syed Abdul Rahman and Jaigani Jaafar –
were acknowledged as received.
Having had no
response, Kah Bintang published advertisements of winding up in two national
newspapers and hearing for the petition was set for June 13.
Pempena was not
represented at the hearing and accordingly, the court gave the company 14 days
to pay up or be wound up. As of June 27, no monies were forthcoming and the
liquidator is to be appointed in the next few days.
Meanwhile when
contacted, Lim, who is the deputy finance minister, told theSun that Pempena's directors had given
the company's chief executive officer instructions upon receiving notice of the
winding-up petition.
The CEO had been
told to instruct the lawyers to file a defence, but they did not, said Lim who
did not respond to further attempts at getting clarification.
Pempena was set up
in 1976 to carry out tourism-related business and development.
Over the years, it
hit the headlines after various bad deals came to light, resulting in massive
losses for the company.
In 2009, an
independent audit ordered by the ministry showed only a few of the 24 companies
invested in by Pempena showed profits in the past three years.
On May 29, theSun reported that Pempena's stake in
the controversial loss-making restaurant Awana Chelsea in London
It had previously
closed its doors on similar outlets in Beijing
and Hyderabad
According to the
auditor-general's report tabled last year, Pempena's venture in opening the London
The report also
noted that Pempena had yet to get any returns from its RM3.73 million
investment.
