KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 1): Zetrix AI Bhd (KL:ZETRIX) continued its downtrend under heavy selling pressure on Tuesday, closing at a 12-year low despite distancing itself from graft charges involving former human resources minister Datuk Seri M Saravanan over the approval of foreign worker quotas for a local company in 2022.
The company’s shares fell as much as 42% before paring some of the losses to close 10% lower at 26.5 sen, a level last seen in September 2014.
It was the most actively traded counter on the stock exchange, with some 1.73 billion shares changing hands. At its closing price, the counter was valued at RM2.1 billion. Year to date, the stock is down 67%.
Responding to an unusual market activity query last Friday, the company, formerly known as MyEG Services Bhd, said there was no basis to rumours or speculation linking it to the three graft charges brought against Saravanan.
“The company wishes to emphasise that there is no basis for such rumours or speculation, and the company is not aware of any connection between the said charges and the business and affairs of the Zetrix AI Group,” the electronic government services provider said in a bourse filing.
HeiTech Padu Bhd (KL:HTPADU), in which Zetrix owns an indirect 16.9% stake, also came under selling pressure on Tuesday. Its shares fell to a low of RM1 before inching up to close, 5.56% lower, at RM1.02 a share, valuing the company at RM166.2 million. The stock is down almost 39% year-to-date.
Saravanan, 58, was charged at the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court with allegedly receiving over RM1 million in bribes for approving foreign worker quotas for a local company in 2022. The three charges alleged that he received monies through Syed Amirul Syed Ahmad in the form of cash and a cheque.
The former minister pleaded not guilty to committing the offence from June 2022 till July 2022 while he was still heading the human resources ministry.