KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 4): The Kuala Lumpur High Court on Wednesday allowed a Maju Holdings Sdn Bhd creditor to start contempt proceedings against the finacially distressed developer and its five directors and officers for allegedly breaching a temporary court order by acting through a nominee and a related corporation to disrupt liquidation proceedings.
Besides Maju Holdings, those named in creditor Bridgex Sdn Bhd's contempt petition are group chief executive officer and director Abu Rejaii Abu Talib, director and 91% shareholder Tan Sri Abu Sahid Mohamed, and Maju Holdings directors Puan Sri Noor Azrina Mohd Azmi, Fendi Shareef Ang and Cheok Kia Yong.
Maju Holdings is the developer of Maju Expressway (MEX) and Abu Sahid, Noor Azrina, who is also Abu Sahid's wife, and a former director Datuk Yap Wee Leong face criminal charges over the unfinished MEX II extension of the major Klang Valley artery.
Bridgex said in a statement issued by its lawyers that the company had petitioned to wind up Maju Holdings over a debt of RM67.994 million on April 20, 2023, but proceedings have been held up for the past three and half years by Maju Holdings making court applications that automatically halted the liquidation process.
“On Aug 19, this year, on Bridgex’s application, the High Court made an ad-interim (temporary) order restraining Maju, whether acting by itself or through its directors, officers, employees, agents, solicitors, nominees or related corporations, from filing any application giving rise to a moratorium under Sections 368(1A), 398 or 410 of the Companies Act 2016 without the prior leave of the court.”
However, on Sept 8 another creditor, VLA Architects Sdn Bhd, sought a scheme of arrangement from the Shah Alam High Court to recover a debt of RM9.97 million under Section 366 of the Companies Act 2016, and applied for a restraining order under Section 368 of the same Act to protect Maju Holdings from other winding up proceedings or other legal actions.
Earlier on Sept 2, Abu Rejali affirmed in an affidavit at Kuala Lumpur court proceedings that there was “no present filing by the defendant, no board resolution authorising such filing, no final scheme, no identified funder and no concrete step” that would disrupt Bridgex's bid to liquidate Maju Holdings.
Bridgex alleges that VLA Architects is related to Maju Holdings under a deed signed and witnessed by Maju Holdings's officers, that VLA Architects' application at the Shah Alam court was based on Maju Holdings's previous bid that was rejected by the Kuala Lumpur court, and that Maju Holdings appeared at the Shah Alam court to accept the restraining order dated Sept 8 without disclosing the Kuala Lumpur court's injunction that was granted on Aug 19.
The company claims that these actions breached the Kuala Lumpur court injunction and that Abu Rejali knowingly made untrue statements in his Sept 2 affidavit.
Following this, Judicial Commissioner Mohamad Redzuan Idrus granted Bridgex's application to start contempt proceedings against Maju Holdings.
Bridgex was represented Ivanpal Singh Grewal, James Au, Koh Mun Hoong and Nisha Subramaniam of Messrs AJ Ariffin, Yeo & Harpal.