KUALA LUMPUR – Special purpose vehicle Landasan Lumayan Berjaya Sdn Bhd (LLBSB) was formed through a joint venture between Menteri Besar Incorporated’s (MBI) subsidiary – Landasan Lumayan Sdn Bhd (LLSB) and Berjaya group subsidiary, Berjaya Hartanah Bhd – to clean and develop the Klang River, tycoon Tan Sri Vincent Tan and Berjaya Land Bhd clarified in their lawsuit against Datuk Seri Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor.
In a statement of claim sent to the Shah Alam High Court today, Tan and Berjaya Land explained that the MBI subsidiary owned 45% stakes in LLBSB while Berjaya Hartanah had 55%.
Additionally, they explained that LLBSB employs property development, with a specific focus on affordable housing projects, as a means to generate revenue to fund and sustain these vital river-cleaning initiatives under the Selangor Maritime Gate Project (SMG).
The project has been the subject of the caretaker Kedah menteri besar’s criticisms during the state election campaigning recently.
“The SMG Project initiative was recognised by the Green World Awards 2023 for its efforts in cleaning the Klang River and the SMG project to rehabilitate Klang River is deemed successful in improving water quality of the river from class 4 to class 2 now,” the statement read.
Tan and Berjaya Land initiated the defamation suit in the court today, represented by the law firm Messrs. Pierre Chuah & Associates.
The legal action came after Sanusi’s comments regarding the RM700mil river-widening SMG project during his speech in conjunction with the ‘PN Best Mega Tour’ election campaign at Dataran Darulaman, Jitra, Kedah on August 2.
As a result, Tan and Berjaya Land have demanded a range of compensatory measures from Sanusi, including general damages, aggravated damages, and exemplary damages. They have sought an injunction order to restrain the defendant from making further defamatory statements.
Countering Sanusi’s remarks, Tan and Berjaya Land insisted that neither company in the joint venture were awarded 600 acres of land valued at RM10 billion.
They asserted that only several parcels of land totalling of 103.6 acres, identified as feasible for development and granted approval for alienation to the joint venture by the Selangor state government with specific conditions.
They added the related companies also did not obtain 600 acres of land for free, and that the Selangor State Government did not incur RM180 million losses from the so-called land grab
“Only 103.6 acres of land were alienated to JVCo (joint venture)/LLBSB to which LLSB has 45% of shareholding,” they said.
In the claim, Tan and Berjaya Land contended that Sanusi’s speech was live-streamed and subsequently shared on various platforms, including Astro Awani’s YouTube account, PAS TV’s Facebook account, and KiniTV’s YouTube account.
The case has been slated for case management on September 4.
Among other things, Sanusi referred to Tan as the “tauke” or boss of the caretaker Selangor Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari and claimed that Berjaya Land had received a 600-acre land in Selangor, worth RM10 billion, for free.
Tan asserted that the defamatory statement implied that both he and the company were involved in corruption and were associates of Amirudin.
Furthermore, Tan claimed that Sanusi insinuated that they caused losses amounting to at least RM180 million to the Selangor state government due to the alleged free land deal, adding that Sanusi also wrongly indicated that he and related companies collectively earned RM33.3 billion.
Tan and Berjaya Land contended that the defamatory statement could harm 67,367 shareholders in BCorp and 7,053 shareholders in Berjaya Land, leading to financial losses
“The Defamatory Oral Statements, which are false and slanderous, have and/or are capable of destroying the reputation the Plaintiffs have in the world of business both locally and internationally and they have the potential of causing the Plaintiffs to lose hundreds of millions,” they said in the claim.
In a statement on August 4, Berjaya Land Group CEO Syed Ali Shahul Hameed described Sanusi’s statement as “false, malicious, completely without merit, and politically motivated”.
Berjaya Land clarified that while the company wasn’t explicitly named, the statement could be construed as referring to the company.
Earlier this week, Tan and Berjaya Land Bhd demanded a public apology, and RM200 million in compensation from Sanusi for his alleged defamatory remarks against the company.
They letter of demand was sent to Sanusi on August 5, outlining five specific demands.
Meanwhile, LLSB also filed a separate Writ of Summons against Badrul Hisham Bin Shaharin, also known on social media as ‘CheguBard’, over “malicious” attacks regarding its process and conduct in managing the SMG initiative.
“LLSB stands firm in its unwavering dedication to the highest standards of integrity and accountability and has, to its utmost ability, acted in the best interest of the Selangor state government,” it said in a statement yesterday. – August 10, 2023
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