KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 23): The High Court has dismissed Bank Pembangunan Malaysia Bhd’s second lawsuit over a RM400 million loan to Aries Telecoms (M) Bhd in 2012, involving 30 people and companies.
High Court judge Datuk Quay Chew Soon on Monday struck out the suit against all defendants with costs, ruling that the bank lacked locus standi, or legal standing, and the matter had already been decided in a previous case (res judicata). The judge said any misuse of the loan should be addressed by Aries, the borrower, and noted that the bank’s earlier lawsuit did not claim any wrongdoing in how the loan was used.
Bank Pembangunan went to court in 2022 seeking at least RM564.99 million in losses and damages against the defendants for allegedly conspiring and using unlawful means to defraud the bank — in relation to the RM400 million loan to Aries in 2012 — and for concealing such fraud and its proceeds. The suit alleged that the loan was funnelled out of Aries through methods such as inflated invoices and directors’ fees.
Among defendants in the suit include former Aries group managing director and director Datuk Ranjeet Singh Sidhu. Ranjeet was alleged to have paid an individual, who then held the role of president and managing director of Bank Pembangunan, in exchange for the bank to waive the conditions precedent to the loan disbursement.
The court filing stated that Ranjeet paid RM8 million through alleged intermediary Datuk Noorusa’adah Othman.
On the same day (Feb 23), Ranjeet was charged in court for issuing the alleged RM8 million bribe.
Ranjeet was also charged with corruption for submitting a fraudulent agreement as true to meet the loan requirements from Bank Pembangunan, allegedly in June 2012, according to the charge sheet seen by The Edge. The Bank Pembangunan's ex-chief passed away in 2022.
Bank Pembangunan already won a separate suit
According to the judgement sighted by The Edge, the High Court dismissed Bank Pembangunan’s lawsuit because the bank had already filed an earlier case in July 2018 against Aries, its corporate guarantor Zavarco Bhd, and personal guarantor Zulizman Zainal Abidin. In that case, which went all the way up to Federal Court, the bank won a RM400 million summary judgement. This led to Zavarco being liquidated and a receiver appointed to manage Aries.
The judgement also stated that Aries, as the owner of the money, was harmed by the loan’s misuse, not the bank.
Bank Pembangunan “has no right, having satisfied itself by obtaining (and defending) the summary judgement”, the judge ruled. It is understood that the bank plans to appeal the decision.
According to Bank Pembangunan’s suit, Aries sought the loan to partly finance a RM1.3 billion project to install a fibre-optic network around Peninsular Malaysia.
Aries, formerly known as V Telecoms, was once hailed as Malaysia's first telco firm to have an Asean presence with its planned US$5 billion Vasseti South Asia Network (VSAN) project. The 30,000km-terrestrial fibre-optic infrastructure project however did not take off.
Other defendants include:
- Silver Ridge Holdings Bhd (KL:SRIDGE), its unit Silver Ridge Sdn Bhd, and Silver Ridge’s former executive director Wong Chee Keong;
- former Aries director Roslina Ibrahim;
- Orient Telecoms Sdn Bhd and its directors Mustafa Ali Zaminali Sayed, Muhammad Shazhakim Shazarul Hisham and Shaza Arina Shazarul Hisham - the latter two are Roslina’s children;
- Shailen Popatlal, who was alleged as Aries’ shadow director;
- Paneagle Holdings Bhd, and Paneagle Sdn Bhd with its director Abdul Wahid Abdul Ghani;
- Open Fibre Sdn Bhd and its director Mohd Radzi Mohamed;
- Sidqi Ahmad Said Ahmad;
- Wan Alias Wan Ngah;
- BVS Trinity Sdn Bhd and its director Abd Hadi Abd Majid;
- Zavarco plc and its director Tunku Mazlina Tunku Abd Aziz;
- alleged payment intermediary Datuk Noorusa’adah Othman; and
- companies Primawin Ltd, China Finance Ltd, Hadron Equities Ltd, VCB Malaysia Bhd and VCB Investment Bhd.