KUALA LUMPUR (April 26): Wiradani Development Sdn Bhd — a property developer linked to the son of former finance minister Tun Daim Zainuddin — has filed a fresh winding-up petition against SPNB Aspirasi Sdn Bhd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Syarikat Perumahan Negara Bhd (SPNB).
According to the petition notice dated April 24 sighted by The Edge, the application will be heard by the High Court of Kuala Lumpur on May 21, 2024.
This is despite a settlement having been reached between the two parties in October last year following a decision delivered by the Court of Appeal (COA), whereby parties agreed that a sum of RM28 million is to be set off against the RM37.89 million owed to Wiradani.
Wiradani's counsel Aswath Ramakrishnan, of law firm Ahmad Deniel, Ruben & Co, explained that SPNB Aspirasi has refused to pay the remaining RM10.79 million it still owes to Wiradani following the settlement.
"Yes, they (SPNB Aspirasi) refused to pay for no reason. No reason was given," he told The Edge when contacted.
This has prompted Wiradani to file a fresh winding-up petition against SPNB Aspirasi, to push for its claim on the remaining amount, said Aswath.
Recall that on October 9 last year, Wiradani had reached a settlement with SPNB Aspirasi in relation to an arbitration award that it had obtained against the government-linked property developer.
The settlement entails that the parties agreed that the sum of RM28 million is to be set off against the arbitration award. However, Wiradani retains the right to file afresh against SPNB Aspirasi as part of the settlement.
To recap, SPNB Aspirasi entered into a development agreement (DA) with Wiradani in 2015, where Wiradani was appointed as the turnkey contractor for the development project on a piece of land owned by Wiradani.
However, Wiradani claimed that SPNB Aspirasi had failed to make the full payment for works that had been done by the turnkey contractor. Wiradani terminated the DA between both parties and claimed RM33.125 million in damages in 2019.
The matter went to arbitration in June 2020, where arbitrator Datuk N Sundra Rajoo ruled and required SPNB Aspirasi to pay RM28.219 million as loss of profit for the project, as well as RM3.289 million for interim payment certificate.
This arbitration was enforced by the Kuala Lumpur High Court in 2021 and a winding-up petition was filed by Wiradani and enforced against SPNB Aspirasi in June 2023 for not abiding by the arbitration.