This article first appeared in The Edge Malaysia Weekly on May 29, 2023 - June 4, 2023

The appointment of three new directors to the board of Bahvest Resources Bhd is an indication that the boardroom fight is over.

Yet, the problems for minority shareholders of the company, which has interests in the mining of gold in Sabah, are far from over.

In an announcement last Friday, Bahvest said it would be unable to complete the accounts for the first quarter ended March 31, 2023. The results are due by May 31 and failure to submit the accounts to Bursa Malaysia will result in suspension of the stock on June 9.

On the same day, Bahvest also announced the appointments of Chong Tzu Khen, Law Ngia Meng and Chong Mee Fah to the board. All three are nominees of shareholders holding more than 10% in the company who wanted to reconstitute the board by removing three incumbent directors.

The three incumbent directors who are almost certainly to be ousted in the extraordinary general meeting (EGM) to be held on June 13 are Datuk Seri Dr Md Kamal, Datuk Lo Fui Ming and Lo Teck Yong. Fui Ming used to be the principal figure in the management of Bahvest.

The EGM was requisitioned by shareholders led by Datuk Freddy Lim to remove Fui Ming and the other two.

In response to the challenge, Fui Ming and those close to him sold down their interest in Bahvest. A private company 

that Fui Ming owns also filed a legal suit seeking compensation from Bahvest for alleged encroachment during the mining activities.

While a settlement was being worked out between the private company and Bahvest, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission in Sabah hauled up Fui Ming and five others to investigate claims that they had allegedly under-declared the amount of gold mined in the state.

What is surprising is why the new management would take over Bahvest only to see it being suspended because of its inability to furnish the accounts. If that was the case, why bother removing the old management and seek control of the company?

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