Datuk Ahmad does it again

Thursday, 4 September 2008

Well, well, well, we just heard the Bukit Bendara Umno division chairman Datuk Ahmad Ismail embroiled into yet another scandal after his racist hate speech in Permatang Pauh on 25 August recently.The Penang Development Corporation (PDC) had lodged police and ACA reports against Datuk Ahmad and his now defunct company called Popular Profile Sdn Bhd (which Ahmad was the principal director) over its failure to refund the amount RM500,000 to the state after a failed land deal.

Popular Profile Sdn Bhd had since wound up in 2005 due to a number of business failures and losses incurred.Popular Profile Sdn Bhd, which was onwed by Datuk Ahmad had bought a 4.2ha industrial land in Bukit Minyak for RM5.5 million in 1997. The company placed a 20% deposit amounting to RM1.1 million on 9 May 1997, but could not afford to pay the full amount later and had requested the agreement to be cancelled and the money was refunded on 30 May 1998.PDC at that time, then agreed to return 10% of the deposit amount while the remaining 10% was forfeited due to the cancellation of the land deal. But the 10% that was refunded should have been paid to Perbadanan Usahawan Nasional Berhad (PUNB), the entity who financed the land purchase and not directly to Popular Profile Sdn Bhd.

Noting that Popular Profile Sdn Bhd did not want to settle its loan amount at PUNB, the PDC which was at that time chaired by former chief minister Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon of the previous BN state government, had to fork out another RM500,000 to help Popular Profile Sdn Bhd to settle its loan in PUNB in order to retrieve the land title.

So why didn’t the previous BN state government pay the amount directly to PUNB but choose to channel the payment to Datuk Ahmad’s company instead, and then when Datuk Ahmad refused to settle his loan in PUNB, PDC have to fork out another sum to settle Datuk Ahmad’s liability in PUNB? Why didn’t Dr Koh at that time, take into consideration on the importance of the land title which was still in PUNB’s custody prior to the refund of the deposit to Datuk Ahmad?These are clearly an element of corruption and misused of power and we urge the police commercial crimes division and the anti-corruption agency to file an official investigation onto this scam as soon as possible.