HOT ! KES SAMAN KHAZANAH OLEH TAIKUN HALIM SAAD SELESAI LUAR MAHKAMAH RM1.0 BILION?

Khazanah nafi selesai luar makamah kes Halim Saad

Khazanah Nasional Berhad menafikan cadangan penyelesaian luar mahkamah berhubung saman yang dikemukakan hartawan Tan Sri Halim Saad.

Kenyataan Khazanah malam tadi menafikan laporan akhbar The Star yang membuat spekulasi bahawa penyelesaian berkenaan sedang berlangsung.

“Mereka yang dituduh menafikan dakwaan berkenaan kerana tiada sebarang penyelesaian yang dicadangkan mahu pun perbincangan berhubung hal berkenaan,” kata Khazanah dalam satu kenyataan kepada The Malaysian Insider.

Pengurus aset negeri menambah ketiga-tiga defendan - Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop, kerajaan Malaysia dan Khazanah percaya mereka mempunyai asas yang kukuh bagi mempertahankan dakwaan mereka dan akan mengambil semua pendekatan yang perlu bagi melindungi kepentingan mereka.

“Disebabkan kes ini belum dibicarakan di mahkamah, ia harus dibincang dan diputuskan oleh mahkamah,” katanya.

Starbiz sisipan akhbar The Star melaporkan spekulasi penyelesaian luar mahkamah yang membabitkan kos lebih kurang RM1 bilion.

Halim yang pernah mengepalai Renong/UEM Group mendakwa beliau ditipu untuk menjual pegangannya dan tidak dibayar seperti apa yang dipersetujui Khazanah pada 2001. –

BACA LAGI KISAH SEBENAR KES INI DI SINI

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Thursday July 18, 2013 MYT 9:20:15 AM

Speculation rife out-of-court settlement being hammered out for Halim Saad's case

BY B.K. SIDHU ,BKSIDHU@THESTAR.COM.MY

Tan Sri Halim Saad


PETALING JAYA: Speculation is rife that an out-of-court settlement is being hammered out to conclude the controversial suit filed by Tan Sri Halim Saad against Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop and two others over allegations that he was forced to sell his stake in Renong/UEM Group to Khazanah Nasional Bhd in 2001.

The settlement figure bandied around, according to sources, is about RM1bil.

However, in his statement of claim filed at the High Court on April 30, Halim is claiming about RM2bil, which includes accumulated interest and tracts of land that he claims were agreed in an deal reached in 2001.

The sources claim the parties involved have met via their intermediaries with one meeting taking place this week. However, this could not be verified as at press time and Halim, when contacted yesterday, declined comment.

If indeed there is an out-of-court settlement, it would follow the route taken to resolve the six-year suit by former Malaysia Airlines (MAS) executive chairman Tan Sri Tajudin Ramli, who had sued brought a suit against Pengurusan Danaharta over the 32% stake shares in MAS.

Halim, who was once the head honcho of the Renong/UEM group, alleged in his statement of claim that he was “fraudulently induced’’ to sell the shares, and not paid what was agreed.

In his suit, he named the Government and Khazanah as second and third defendants respectively, and Nor Mohamed as the first defendant.

The core of the claim is the series of events which led Halim to give up control of Renong and the role played by the then prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and his special economic adviser, Nor Mohamed.

But to counter Halim’s claims, the defendants filed their defence recently, arguing that Halim’s suit should be struck out because it was time-barred.

For that they cited Section 6 of the Limitation Act 1953, whereby a litigant should act within six years once a cause of action arose.

Nor Mohamed in his affidavit filed on July 8, also denied he told Halim that Umno was the owner of the assets. But Halim in his statement of claim contended that the shares were his, but was told that all the assets that Khazanah took over from him belonged to Umno and therefore there was no reason to pay him for the assets.

Halim also alleged he did not receive the agreed amount of RM1.3bil, tracts of land including those in Iskandar Malaysia, and interest in Kualiti Alam, and others as part of an agreement reached in 2011. Instead he claimed he only got RM165mil, of which RM100mil was the first instalment for the put option that was refunded to him, and RM65mil for interest and costs.

Nor Mohamed alleged that during the whole process of the general offer, Halim did not claim the existence of any agreement to compensate him in cash and property.

To recap, the Asian financial crisis of 1997 led to the fall in Renong’s share price. It was then known as the biggest debtor in town. In 1997, UEM announced it was buying a 32.5% stake in Renong but that did not go down well with investors. To appease the market, Halim had in 1998, offered to buy the Renong shares from UEM via a put option worth RM3.2bil.

Halim paid the first RM100mil but could not pay up the second when it was due, which was when Khazanah took over.

Later, Khazanah took UEM private and cancelled the put option. Through UEM and Renong, Halim then had controlled no fewer than six other public-listed companies and also the land which is now being developed as Iskandar.

Kedahkini