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KUALA LUMPUR: Country Heights Holdings Bhd (CHHB) has been slapped with a RM22.6 million bill by the government for real property gains tax (RPGT) for assessment years 1993, 1998 and 1999.
In a statement on Monday Feb 8, CHHB said it had on Feb 5, 2010 been served with a writ of summons and a statement of claim by the government against the company as the acquirer of shares in 1993 and properties in the other two years. The company said it would dispute the claim via its solicitors.
It said the corporate exercise in 1993 involved the injection of eight property companies from the Executive Circle group of companies that facilitated the listing of CHHB.
The two exercises in 1998 and 1999 involved the acquisition of leisure assets, again from the Executive Circle group, to cushion CHHB from the adverse impacts of the Asian financial crisis. For these acquisitions, CHHB had issued cumulative redeemable preference shares (CRPS) and had used deferred payments.
According to CHHB’s earlier annual reports, it had back in 2004 undertaken an asset-based settlement exercise to settle some RM190 million CRPS via the disposal of three companies, Pioneer Oscar Bhd to Mines Resort Bhd, Mines Wonderland Sdn Bhd and Paramount Returns Sdn Bhd to Executive Circle, with the exercise completed in June 2005.
A check with the Companies Commission of Malaysia, Executive Circle (formerly known as Mines Resort City Sdn Bhd) is a wholly owned unit of privately held Golden Touch Venture Sdn Bhd, which in turn is majority-controlled by Bluewater Developments Bhd, Tan Sri Lee Kim Tiong @ Lee Kim Yew and his wife Tan Sri Tan Bee Hong.
Lee is also the deputy chairman of CHHB and controls some 50% of CHHB via Golden Touch Venture and in his own name.
This action by the government adds on to the problems at CHHB. For its nine months ended Sept 30, 2009, CHHB suffered a net loss of RM8.6 million on the back of RM111.8 million in revenue. CHHB is also a Practice Note 1 (PN1) company since the middle of last year, as it was unable to pay its bond commitments to Lee.
In a statement on Monday Feb 8, CHHB said it had on Feb 5, 2010 been served with a writ of summons and a statement of claim by the government against the company as the acquirer of shares in 1993 and properties in the other two years. The company said it would dispute the claim via its solicitors.
It said the corporate exercise in 1993 involved the injection of eight property companies from the Executive Circle group of companies that facilitated the listing of CHHB.
The two exercises in 1998 and 1999 involved the acquisition of leisure assets, again from the Executive Circle group, to cushion CHHB from the adverse impacts of the Asian financial crisis. For these acquisitions, CHHB had issued cumulative redeemable preference shares (CRPS) and had used deferred payments.
According to CHHB’s earlier annual reports, it had back in 2004 undertaken an asset-based settlement exercise to settle some RM190 million CRPS via the disposal of three companies, Pioneer Oscar Bhd to Mines Resort Bhd, Mines Wonderland Sdn Bhd and Paramount Returns Sdn Bhd to Executive Circle, with the exercise completed in June 2005.
A check with the Companies Commission of Malaysia, Executive Circle (formerly known as Mines Resort City Sdn Bhd) is a wholly owned unit of privately held Golden Touch Venture Sdn Bhd, which in turn is majority-controlled by Bluewater Developments Bhd, Tan Sri Lee Kim Tiong @ Lee Kim Yew and his wife Tan Sri Tan Bee Hong.
Lee is also the deputy chairman of CHHB and controls some 50% of CHHB via Golden Touch Venture and in his own name.
This action by the government adds on to the problems at CHHB. For its nine months ended Sept 30, 2009, CHHB suffered a net loss of RM8.6 million on the back of RM111.8 million in revenue. CHHB is also a Practice Note 1 (PN1) company since the middle of last year, as it was unable to pay its bond commitments to Lee.
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