KUALA LUMPUR (April 27): Padini Holdings Bhd (KL:PADINI) and five of its local subsidiaries are among the companies which have had 21 bank accounts frozen as part of a Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) probe into external counterparties.
Most of the frozen accounts are under Padini Corporation Sdn Bhd with seven, followed by Yee Fong Hung (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd and Padini Dot Com Sdn Bhd with four each. Padini Holdings has three accounts frozen, while Vincci Ladies' Specialties Centre Sdn Bhd has two and Seed Corporation Sdn Bhd has one.
“None of the above subsidiaries is a major subsidiary as defined under the Main Market listing requirements of Bursa Malaysia Securities Bhd,” said Padini in a bourse filing.
Padini Corp, Yee Fong Hung and Seed Corp are dealers of garments and ancillary products; Vincci Ladies' Specialties Centre focuses on women’s shoes and accessories while Padini Dot Com runs the group’s online business.
Overall, Padini has 11 wholly owned subsidiaries — eight in Malaysia and three in Cambodia, Thailand, and Hong Kong.
On April 24, Padini announced that certain bank accounts belonging to the company and its subsidiaries were frozen under an order issued pursuant to Section 44(1) of the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001.
A day later, Padini said the order by the MACC relates to an investigation involving external parties, not its staff or management. It added that it is not aware of any wrongdoing on its part and views the account freeze as a standard step in the investigation.
Shares of Padini were down by 11 sen or 7.1% to RM1.44 at Monday’s closing, valuing the group at RM1.4 billion.