KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 7): Sapura Resources Bhd (KL:SAPRES) announced on Monday that its managing director Datuk Shahriman Shamsuddin has been placed on a leave of absence effective Sept 11, pending ongoing investigations, confirming a report in The Edge Malaysia weekly.

The property and aviation company informed Bursa Malaysia that its chief corporate officer Mai Eliza Mior Mohamad Zubir has been appointed as the officer-in-charge to temporarily oversee the managing director's responsibilities. However, the company did not disclose the specific reasons for the investigation.

Sapura Resources said further announcements will be made in due course.

The Edge report titled Shahriman on Leave of Absence from Sapura Resources, in the latest issue of the weekly, noted that Shahriman has been relieved of his duties, functions, powers, and authority, effective last month.

According to the report, two stories are circulating, and the first is that Shariman had hired an unqualified person to work at Sapura Resources, and the second is that he is being investigated after it was reported in August that a potential conflict of interest had arisen because of his interest in aviation company Explorer Group Sdn Bhd.

According to filings with the Companies Commission of Malaysia, Shahriman has been a director of Explorer Group since 2019, and he has been a shareholder of Sapura Resources since its shares were floated as Uniphone Telecommunications Bhd in the late 1990s.

Shahriman had also filed a petition with the High Court on Sept 23 to wind up the family’s investment vehicle, Sapura Holdings Sdn Bhd, which owns a 51.1% stake in Sapura Resources and other assets.  

He is one of the three shareholders of Sapura Holdings, apart from his elder brother Tan Sri Shahril Shamsudin who has 40.5% each in Sapura Holdings. Meanwhile, Brothers Capital Sdn Bhd, their other vehicle, holds a 15% stake and Datuk Rameli Musa owns 4%, as stated in the court document.

Shahriman was appointed to the board of Sapura Resources as a non-independent non-executive director in July 2005, before being redesignated as managing director in March 2007.

Shahriman and his elder brother, Tan Sri Shahril Shamsudin, hold a 51.47% stake in Sapura Resources through their investment vehicle, Sapura Holdings Sdn Bhd.

Shares of Sapura Resources closed unchanged at 28 sen on Monday, giving the company a market capitalisation of RM72.6 million. Year-to-date, the counter has fallen over 24%.