This article first appeared in The Edge Malaysia Weekly on March 31, 2025 - April 6, 2025

JUST when it seemed that the news flow around the now-­defunct MBI pyramid scheme was quieting down, following the extradition of its mastermind Tedy Teow to China last August, a series of raids carried out over the weekend of March 21 sent shock waves through Penang’s property sector.

The operations were conducted by the Anti-Money Laundering Division from Bukit Aman, sources tell The Edge.

The Edge has learnt that at least two corporate lawyers in Penang have been questioned, with documents related to property and share transactions involving MBI seized from their homes and offices.

Additionally, several prominent figures from the corporate world in Kuala Lumpur and Penang have been summoned by the police.

It is learnt that two of the corporate figures hail from Kedah. Both individuals own equity stakes in public-listed entities on Bursa Malaysia. One of them holds a majority stake in three listed companies and a minority interest in eight other companies.

According to sources, among the seized materials are those involving the Bayan Mutiara development in Penang, where a company linked to MBI became the major shareholder in 2018.

To recap, in 2018, Hemat Tuah Sdn Bhd acquired a controlling stake in Tropicana Ivory Sdn Bhd, a joint venture (JV) formed by Ivory Properties Group Bhd (KL:IVORY) and Tropicana Corp Bhd (KL:TROP) (formerly known as Dijaya Corp Bhd) to develop Penang World City (PWC).

The massive RM10 billion project in Bayan Mutiara was initially awarded to Ivory Properties, led by Datuk Low Eng Hock, before the company formed the JV with Tropicana Corp. Hemat Tuah paid RM126.7 million to take over Tropicana Ivory — 55% from Tropicana Corp (RM70.7 million) and 45% from Ivory Properties (RM56 million).

Major shareholders of Hemat Tuah include Koh Teck Ong, Lim Ah Chay, Lio Chee Yeong, Tan Kim Hee and Teow Wooi Pin. Wooi Pin, the elder brother of Tedy, holds a 45% stake in Hemat Tuah. Tan, believed to be Tedy’s brother-in-law, owns 10%.

Earlier reports indicated that Mutiara Metropolis Sdn Bhd was the developer of PWC.

A company search reveals that Mutiara Metropolis, formerly known as Tropicana Ivory, is wholly owned by Hemat Tuah. In December last year, The Edge reported that another local developer had taken over the PWC project, with construction going on at the site.

Other documents believed to have been taken by the authorities during the raid included a subscription agreement between Sunrise Manner Sdn Bhd, Atta Global Group Bhd, Tang Tiam Hok and Wan Nyuk Ming. Tang is a director of Hemat Tuah, a filing with the Companies Commission of Malaysia shows.

It is said that MBI money was in two listed companies in 2019 — Atta Global Group (now known as Mayu Global Group Bhd [KL:MAYU]) and Heng Huat Resources Group Bhd (now known as HHRG Bhd [KL:HHRG]). Both companies are now under new management and controlling shareholders.

A search on AskEdge shows Kim Hee is a substantial shareholder of Mayu Global, holding an 11.09% stake. The company changed its name in 2023.

The spotlight was cast on HHRG in 2020 when its then executive chairman Ooi Chieng Sim was among eight men charged with drug trafficking. Other documents believed to have been seized during the recent raid included a share sale and purchase agreement between Heng Huat Industries Holdings Sdn Bhd and Arah Kawasan Sdn Bhd.

Ivory Properties’ Penang Times Square mall (also known as M Mall 020) was reportedly tied to the MBI scheme. The mall, which had MBI as its anchor tenant until the scheme’s collapse in 2018, is now under receivership and has become almost deserted.

In the glory days of MBI, its members from China would put up at hotels owned by MBI, including the Vouk Hotel, while some stayed in MBI’s Desaku housing project in Karangan, Kulim, Kedah.

Back then, MBI Desaku was a bustling site with shops selling Chinese products, and houses were available for sale to MBI members with the option of paying deposits using M-Coins. However, the project is now described as abandoned with empty shops and food courts. The landowner and developer is ECK Development Sdn Bhd, led by its CEO Tan Sri Khor Eng Chuen.

Kedah-based ECK Development became a lead partner in Consortium Zenith Beijing Urban Construction Group Sdn Bhd (CZBUCG) after acquiring Consortium Zenith Construction Sdn Bhd (CZC) in 2021. In 2013, CZBUCG was awarded the RM6.3 billion Penang undersea tunnel and associated road projects, beating other contenders, namely China State Construction Engineering Corp Ltd & VST Cemerlang Sdn Bhd, Setia Precast Sdn Bhd, ECK Construction Sdn Bhd, Gamuda Bhd (KL:GAMUDA), Zambina Wawasan Sdn Bhd, IJM-CRGL Joint Ventures, Consortium Zenith BUCG Juteras & Sri Tinggi JV and WCTDaewoo Joint Ventures.

Consortium Zenith BUCG, a JV between Zenith Construction, China Railway Construction Corp Ltd, Beijing Urban Construction Group (BUCG), Sri Tinggi Sdn Bhd and Juteras Sdn Bhd, is overseeing the infrastructure project.

The massive infrastructure project includes building three highways to ease traffic congestion on Penang Island. They are a 4.2km bypass from Gurney Drive to Lebuhraya Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu, a 4.6km bypass from Lebuhraya Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu to Bandar Baru Air Itam, and a 12km paired road from Jalan Tanjung Bungah to Teluk Bahang.

A feasibility study that cost over RM300 million was conducted years back.

Recently, it was reported that the Penang government had approved a proposal to change the alignment of the third link, previously known as the undersea tunnel project. Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow confirmed that the state exco had authorised the project contractor CZC to continue conducting feasibility studies for the revised alignment. (See also “Shareholder tussle in HHRG escalates” on Page 15 and “Questions abound as the ghost of MBI walks again” on Page 44.) 

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