Datuk Razali Ibrahim

KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 25): Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Razali Ibrahim has denied opposition lawmaker Mohd Rafizi Ramli’s claim that a Felda Investment Corp Sdn Bhd (FIC) subsidiary was registered on the very day the lawmaker “revealed” that the firm does not own its hotels in London.

Speaking at a media conference at the Parliament building yesterday, Razali said both Felda London Hotel (Private) Ltd (FLH) and FIC Global Ltd (FGL) were registered in the British Virgin Islands (BVI) but not on Oct 13 as Mohd Rafizi had claimed.

Razali said the Oct 13 date appeared when the duplicates of the company’s registration documents were certified as true copies by a London law firm called Anthony Louca Solicitors.

This was further clarified by FIC in a separate statement released shortly after the briefing that said no company was set up on Oct 13, but instead, the share certificates of FLH and FGL were certified as true copies by the lawyer on Oct 17 and Oct 13 respectively.

“FIC appointed a tax consultant to advise on the structure of its investments in [the] United Kingdom in 2014,” the firm added.

FIC is wholly owned by the Federal Land Development Authority (Felda) and is involved in non-farm business.

“Rafizi is so obsessed and made it seemed like there’s a huge scandal involving a sum of RM330 million in investment which went missing, and even went as far as to claim that FIC went to BVI to register a new company to ensure it does not lose its assets in London,” Razali said.

The RM330 million refers to the amount reportedly forked out by FIC to purchase the Grand Plaza Kensington Hotel in Kensington, London, in December 2014, and which was also said to be far more than the original price.

FIC chairman Datuk Syed Mohamed Syed Ibrahim on Sunday said the Grand Plaza Kensington Hotel is solely owned by FLH, while the other hotels — Felda House and Grand Felda House — are owned by FGL.

Felda chairman Tan Sri Shahrir Abdul Samad, who was also present at the media conference, said the possibility of taking legal action against Mohd Rafizi will be discussed at FIC’s board of directors meeting today.

“Coincidentally, FIC’s board of directors will have a meeting tomorrow (today). The main agenda was not to talk about this issue; meetings are the usual routine for directors. However, I was told by the chairman (Syed Mohamed) that they will discuss the claim made by Rafizi and subsequently, what action to pursue,” Shahrir said.

This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on Oct 25, 2017.

For more stories, download EdgeProp.my pullout here for free.

SHARE
RELATED POSTS
  1. Auditor general flags going concern issues at Felda, PR1MA
  2. London mayor calls for confiscation of Russians’ property worth US$1.4 bil
  3. Anwar: Govt guarantee essential to restructure Felda's debt, ensure sustainability