LTKM Chairman missing in action? (3)

I posted twice about this case, here and here and several times about the Genneva gold trading scandal.

According to this article from Bernama, the previous Chairman of LTKM is not missing in action anymore.

Again, the charge is not related to a pyramid scheme, but to illegal deposit taking, apparently that is more easy to prove (BNM lost the first case regarding a pyramid scheme, they are appealing).

I guess there are more ways to skin a cat, Al Capone was not convicted for his crimes but for tax evasion.

I just hope for two things in the Genneva case:

• A healthy dose of justice;
• Lots of transparency in what really happened and why it took so long time before action was taken.

Hopefully one day there will be a book written by an investigative reporter revealing all, similar to "PKFZ: A Nation’s Trust Betrayed".


Another Genneva Director Brings Total Charged To 16 Individuals

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 4 (Bernama) -- Another Genneva (M) Sdn Bhd director was charged at the Sessions Court here Tuesday for illegal deposit-taking amounting to RM5.5 billion, bringing the number of individuals charged in the gold investment case to 16 so far.

Ahmad Khairuddin Illias, 55, pleaded not guilty to two counts of illegal deposit for a gold scheme, under Section 25(1) of the Banking and Financial Institutions Act 1989, which is punishable by up to 10 years jail or maximum of RM10 million or both, upon conviction.

He is accused of committing the offence through two current accounts at CIMB Bank Berhad, Jalan Kuchai Lama branch here between Jan 10 2011 and Oct 1 2012.

Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) prosecuting officer Fahmi Abd Moin applied for Ahmad Khairuddin's case to be tried jointly with the 15 other individuals charged earlier.

Judge Mat Ghani Abdullah set bail at RM500,000 with one surety and ordered the accused's passport to be impounded.

The court also scheduled Feb 20 for mention and submissions on the prosecution's application for the all the cases to be jointly tried.

Lawyer Mohd Hairani Samsi represented Ahmad Khairuddin.

Between Sept 2013 to date, BNM has charged 16 individuals, including the accused, and 10 companies on 1,550 counts in relation to gold investment schemes amounting to RM5.5 billion.

LTKM Chairman missing in action? (2)

With reference to the previous posting on this subject, LTKM made the following announcement to Bursa:


"We refer to Bank Negara Malaysia' notice dated 23 October 2013 in The Star newspaper, seeking to locate Encik Ahmad Khairuddin bin Ilias ("Encik Ahmad"), the Company's Independent Non-Executive Chairman, to assist in the investigations of the affairs of Genneva Malaysia Sdn Bhd ("the said matter").

The Board of Directors of the Company wishes to inform that the Directors of the Company have attempted to locate Encik Ahmad but failed to do so up to date.

The Board has met this morning on the said matter and has decided to take the following immediate actions which the Board believes will be in the best interest of the Company. These are:-

(a) With immediate effect, the duties and responsibilities of Encik Ahmad, the Non-Executive Chairman of the Company, is suspended pending the necessary clarification and verification by the Board and the Management regarding the said matter.

(b) With immediate effect, Encik Kamarudin bin Md Derom, an Independent Non-Executive Director is appointed as the Deputy Non-Executive Chairman of the Company.

The Board will make further announcement(s) on the said matter pending the outcome of the clarification and verification by the Board and the Management in due course."


Correct decision, as far as I can see, although rather late, the Board of Directors should have known of Mr. Ahmad's involvement with Genneva Malaysia, which could very well lead to problems down the road. The issue was well noticed by Errol Oh of The Star.

LTKM Chairman missing in action?

Bank Negara is asking the public for information regarding the whereabouts of one of the directors of Genneva Malaysia. Advertisements have been published in several Malaysian newspapers:

Errol Oh from The Star points out that Ahmad Khairuddin is not only one of the directors of Genevva but also the Chairman of public listed LTKM. Something that was left out of the (in my opinion much too short) description of the chairman in the last year report of LTKM:

Errol Oh continues:

"Given that the central bank has to resort to ads in the hope of getting information on him or his whereabouts, it’s likely that he hasn’t been in touch with its enforcement team for a while.

With warrants of arrest issued against him, is Ahmad Khairuddin able to contribute effectively to LTKM’s boardroom deliberations? Can it be possible that he’s still accessible to the LTKM management and other directors, and yet be on Bank Negara’s list of persons sought? Isn’t there something wrong with this picture?

.....

LTKM must address such questions sooner rather than later. Stakeholders shouldn’t be left in the dark when there’s the perception that the chairman is in legal trouble and has gone missing. If the company too can’t contact Ahmad Khairuddin, others have to step in to do the job. All this ought to be communicated to the investing public.

It’s fair to make a distinction between Ahmad Khairuddin’s involvement in Genneva Malaysia and his duties at LTKM. But this could only go so far. The compartmentalisation crumbled when the Genneva Malaysia scandal rudely intruded upon LTKM’s stewardship."

All very relevant questions, hopefully LTKM will soon make an official announcement on this issue.

It is really a pity for LTKM, which is an otherwise decent company. As far as I am aware, there is further no link between Genevva and LTKM.