KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 20): A licensed money lender has filed a RM1.04 million suit against the office bearers of the Kuala Lumpur Football Association (KLFA) for an unpaid loan they took in 2022, to pay KLFA players’ salaries.

According to documents sighted by The Edge following a file search, the suit was filed at the High Court on May 16 last year, and was initially scheduled for hearing this month but had to be deferred due to the appointment of a new judicial commissioner to hear the matter.

The eight defendants had sought to strike out the suit, claiming that the loan KLFA took was before their time.

The licensed money lender — Appasia Capital Sdn Bhd — named KLFA president Datuk Seri Syed Yazid Syed Omar, deputy president Datuk Kamaruddin Hassan, vice-presidents Wong Yeon Chai, Sham Shamrat Sen Gupta, Ramlan Shahean Askolani, Nor Asyikin Jaafar and Hishamudin Yahya, and treasurer Mohd Zaki Hairudin as defendants in the suit filed by Messrs Kevin & Co.

Syed Yazid was appointed the KLFA president for the term 2024-2028.

The company claims that on July 15, 2022, it signed an agreement with KLFA to give an unsecured loan of RM1 million with interests of 8.4%, and the then-office bearers signed the agreement for the loan.

It was agreed that KLFA was supposed to make three monthly payments of RM7,000 from July 17, 2022, to Sept 15, 2022, and the final payment of RM1 million on Oct 15, 2022.

Following this, Appasia issued a letter of offer containing the salient terms that are stipulated in the loan agreement, and the offer letter was issued with a memorandum of acceptance. KLFA issued a letter that RM40,000 would be deducted from the loan sum for lawyer fees, stamp duty, and others.

KLFA partially paid RM250,000 on Sept 27, 2022, and extended the payment to December 2022. Sometime on Dec 6, 2022, KLFA took an additional loan of RM250,000 and promised to pay within three months.

Subsequently, KLFA requested an extended time to settle the sum via a letter of acceptance dated Sept 15, 2024, where it assured the final sum would be paid by Oct 10, 2024.

Appasia claimed that although KLFA had paid a sum of RM406,000 between July 15, 2022, until Jan 31, 2025, the football association had failed to settle the loan with the plaintiff, despite reminders sent.

As a result, the money lender is seeking the sum of RM1,044,283.35 as of May 16 last year to be paid within 14 days of the court order, along with interests of 18% annually with daily calculation and late interests of 8% annually until a judgement is entered.

Alternatively, the company is seeking a restitution of RM960,000 to be paid within 14 days of judgement entered and an 18% annual interest on the RM960,000 from Jan 15 last year until judgement is entered along with costs of the legal action.

All the defendants except Wong have appointed Messrs Dzulkifli Jaafar & Nizam as their solicitor, while Wong has appointed Messrs Amar Syiimir Izzat & Sham as his solicitor.

In their defence, the defendants claim that the summons should be dismissed with costs, as they claim they were not the office bearers at the time and that the personal bond to the loan was signed by then-KLFA president Khalid Samad, who was also the federal territories minister at the time, and by Toh Hong Chye, a representative from KLFA.

The defendants claim that there was another individual who filed the personal guarantee by the name of Stanley Bernard Stephen Samuel, who had agreed that Khalid and Toh are the principal debtor and not only surety of the sum.

The defendants claim that besides them being defendants, those three named (Khalid, Toh, and Stanley) should also have action taken against them. However, the money lender has not taken action against the trio as they were no longer office bearers.

On July 30, the defendants filed an application to strike out the suit by Appasia, and now the matter has been fixed before Judicial Commissioner Marianne Antoinette Ghani on Sept 17.

According to the English daily, The Sun, Khalid was the KLFA president from 2019 to March 2024, where he had been brought in to help resolve financial problems and clear salary arrears at KL City Football Club. He later alleged that there were "hidden hands" within the club's management that he claimed blocked the association's funding. Following his resignation, Khalid claimed that RM3 million was channelled to the association to settle outstanding player salaries and secure the club’s league licence.