KUALA LUMPUR – Sabah Rugby Union (SRU) president Velayuthan Tan and its secretary Ramesh Lachmanan walked out of the extraordinary general meeting (EGM) with Malaysia Rugby (MR) in objection to the auditors’ findings regarding MR’s financial accounts.
MR held an EGM today at the Malaysian Olympic Hotel to table its audited accounts for the year 2021.
Velayuthan spoke to the media shortly after walking out and revealed he had been against the EGM being held in the first place.
“We cannot accept this meeting as legitimate, given the missing money amounting to millions.
“Secondly, you cannot have an annual general meeting (AGM) because the accounts presented are falsified, but they went ahead and conducted the AGM by a show of hands in December.
“When the members of MR agreed to hold the AGM, they agreed to break the constitution. The constitution states you cannot have an AGM if you cannot table the accounts, especially falsified accounts,” he said.
Velayuthan said that due to MR breaching the constitution, the AGM held in December last year should be invalid and the elections voided.
“You are asking people to breach your own constitution to pass the AGM, which is not acceptable.
“Instead, you should vote to change the constitution and then have the election. That is the right way, but you cannot breach the constitution.”
Velayuthan also said that today’s EGM constituted a violation of their constitution, citing clauses specifying the required advance notice for MR members regarding such meetings.
He implored MR to take responsibility for its actions and declared that the SRU would not participate in MR activities in the foreseeable future.
“You are the MR; you must be accountable for every act, so because of that, we cannot be part of an illegal action taken by the exco and its council members,” he said.
Ramesh, meanwhile, raised concerns about holding an AGM in December, pointing out that such an action is not permitted according to the constitution.
“It is clearly stated in the constitution that if an AGM is to be held, they must present the audited accounts. Back in December, there were no audited accounts, and that is a clear violation of the constitution,” he said.
Ramesh also expressed dissatisfaction with the auditors’ responses when questioned about the figures in MR’s accounts.
“When we queried the auditor about the accounts, we asked where they got the figures from; are the figures from the falsified accounts from 2021? The auditor said yes.
“If the accounts had been falsified, why is the figure used in the EGM? That is the problem, and the account itself has many contradictions in terms of its details and figures,” he said.
In December 2022, MR filed a police report upon discovering that a significant amount of money had been withdrawn from its bank account by a member of the administration dating back to 2019.
MR then held its elections during the AGM in December 2023, where Terengganu’s Amir Amri Mohamad was elected as the new president for the 2023-2027 term.
In February this year, Velayuthan declared that they would refrain from participating in any activities or competitions organised by MR until the organisation addresses the allegations concerning its financial accounts and the conduct of the elections held last December.
He said the measure was taken to ensure that the organisation upholds good governance and integrity. – May 19, 2024
