Ex-Sime Darby CEO, 4 others to pay group RM350mil for losses
KUALA LUMPUR : Sime Darby Bhd's former group chief executive Zubair @ Zubir Murshid and four other former senior executives have been ordered to repay the conglomerate approximately RM350 million as restitution for wrongful payments to consultants in relation to three projects in Qatar.
Justice Atan Mustaffa Yussof Ahmad issued the order following an assessment of damages, after the five defendants admitted their liability in the High Court here 11 years ago, according to The Edge.
Atan said that admission covered the underlying facts giving rise to the claims, the defendants' breaches of duties, and the various other wrongful acts listed in the pleadings.
'The admission of liability for 'wrongful payments' to consultants carries profound legal consequences.
'Where a defendant admits that payments were 'wrongfully' made, this constitutes an admission that such payments should not have been made and were causally connected to the defendant's breach of duty,' the judge said when delivering his broad grounds of judgment.
The other defendants liable under the judgment include:
Shukri Baharom, a former executive vice-president of the group's energy and utilities (E&U) division;
Rahim Ismail, a former chief financial officer of the division;
Kadir Alias, a former head of the E&U's oil and gas business unit; and
Zaki Othman, former senior general manager of Sime Darby Engineering Sdn Bhd.
The five men are jointly and severally liable to pay the group 67.811 million Qatari Riyal (RM79.235 million), US$2.049 million (RM8.714 million), and RM1.725 million.
These sums represent losses incurred by the group arising from three projects under the group's E&U division which experienced massive cost overruns.
The suit was brought in 2010 by Sime Darby and four of its subsidiaries – Sime Darby Engineering Sdn Bhd, Sime Darby Energy Sdn Bhd, Sime Darby Marine Sdn Bhd, and Sime Darby Marine (Hong Kong) Pte Ltd.
The claims concerned losses suffered by the group's Qatar Petroleum (QP) project, its Maersk Oil Qatar project (MOQ) and Project Marine, involving the construction of marine vessels.
Atan said the assessment of damages took place after an interlocutory consent judgment was entered on June 13, 2014.
The judge said that during the assessment proceedings, defence counsel had attempted to venture into the area of liability, but were precluded from doing so by the interlocutory consent judgment previously entered.
He also dismissed various other legal issues raised by the defendants during the proceedings.
Counsels Alexius Lee and Rhosvin Singh appeared for Sime Darby and its subsidiaries, while Shaarvin Raj and Craig Ho appeared for Zubir.
Lawyer Ranjinny Andy appeared for Shukri, Jasmin Raj represented Rahim, and Harvinder Singh Sidhu appeared for Kadir and Zaki.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Free Malaysia Today
an hour ago
- Free Malaysia Today
Motoring ‘influencer' missing after car plunges into river
Firefighters who responded to an emergency call this afternoon found the car had plunged 2m into Sungai Tui. (Facebook pic) MUAR : A motoring influencer on social media, Tengku Nizaruddin Zainudin, 38, better known as Ija Nizaruddin, was reported missing after his Perodua Axia was found submerged in a river near Pagoh this evening. The Pagoh fire station said firefighters responding to an emergency call at about 3.20pm found the car had plunged about 2m into Sungai Tui. There was no sign of the driver. Tengku Nizaruddin's younger brother, Tengku Abdul Aziz, 30, said they last met at about 2pm yesterday after travelling separately from Johor Bahru to Muar. 'We left Johor Bahru in separate vehicles. I went to a different place, while my brother told me he wanted to go to his friend's workshop in Parit Jawa. 'My family last heard from him at around 4pm, but after that, they couldn't reach him,' he said. He said the workshop owner told him and his sister-in-law that his brother never showed up. 'At first, we thought he was joking as usual, but started to get worried when we couldn't reach him and the vehicle was found not far from where we last met,' he said. Muar police said a search is under way.
Free Malaysia Today
3 hours ago
- Free Malaysia Today
Govt looks into US request to ease foreign ownership limits
Tengku Zafrul Aziz said trade officials were working to meet the new US tariff deadline of Aug 1, 'but not at the expense of agreeing to every request'. PETALING JAYA : The government is to consult industry leaders over a US request to relax the limits on foreign ownership of companies in some sectors, says investment, trade and industry minister Tengku Zafrul Aziz. Tengku Zafrul said the US had asked Malaysia to consider liberalising the foreign shareholding restrictions in force on some sectors. Many other nations have also received the same request from the US, he said. The minister said the government would need to consult industry leaders in strategic sectors to determine whether these sectors were ready for the caps on foreign equity to be lifted. 'We need to carefully study its potential impact,' he said. Tengku Zafrul pointed out that some sectors did not have such restrictions, while the manufacturing industry was 'nearly all open'. However, foreign equity limits are still being imposed on strategic sectors, he said. 'As you know, Malaysia has equity restrictions for foreign shareholders in certain sectors. There's a request for us to relook or liberalise those sectors. We need to consult those industries, on whether we are ready to relax those equity shareholding restrictions,' he said. However, not all the US requests would be accepted, he said. 'Some of the requests, we feel, may not be fair to Malaysia.' He said trade officials were working to meet US president Donald Trump's new tariff deadline of Aug 1, 'but not at the expense of agreeing to every request'. The Trump administration has said a 25% tariff would be imposed should talks on a trade deal fail. Flexibility on tariffs Tengku Zafrul said there might be room for flexibility on a sector-by-sector basis. 'There will be opportunities for us to negotiate tariffs below 10% for certain sectors. But at the same time, we cannot depend solely on this trade negotiation.' He pointed to the current status of key sectors such as semiconductors and pharmaceuticals, on which no tariffs are imposed. 'For example, pharmaceuticals are in a better position. Right now, tariffs for both the semiconductor and pharmaceutical sectors are at zero. Naturally, we want to maintain that 0% tariff, but whether we can secure it is another matter.' On the potential impact of tariff changes on the Johor-Singapore special economic zone, Tengku Zafrul said investors were holding off until there was greater clarity. 'There seems to be a wait-and-see attitude. Investors are watching how the tariff scenario plays out before recalculating their positions. That calculation can only happen once there's certainty.' Another discussion would be held this week, with talks to be accelerated until the end of the month, he said.
New Straits Times
4 hours ago
- New Straits Times
Travel agency director among two Bangladeshis held for bribing KLIA enforcement officers
KUALA LUMPUR: Two Bangladeshi men, including the director of a Kuala Lumpur-based travel agency, have been arrested by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) for allegedly masterminding a syndicate that facilitated the entry of foreigners by bribing enforcement officers at Terminal 1 of Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA). Sources said the suspects, both in their 50s, were arrested in an operation conducted in Negri Sembilan between 5pm and 7pm yesterday. "Preliminary investigations revealed that the suspects acted as agents for foreign nationals, bribing enforcement officers at the airport to ease the entry process for these individuals at the country's entry points. "The syndicate's modus operandi involved approaching enforcement officers at the airport to engage in 'counter-setting' activities. "The officers involved would then facilitate the immigration clearance process for these foreign nationals," the source said. Both suspects have been remanded for six days starting today until July 20 to assist in investigations into the case. Yesterday, the MACC's Intelligence Division carried out a joint integrated operation known as Op Recruit in Negri Sembilan and Kuala Lumpur. The operation, conducted jointly with the Border Control and Protection Agency and the Immigration Department's Intelligence and Special Operations Division, also involved members of the MACC's elite Anti-Corruption Tactical Squad, following intelligence gathered since early this year. During the raids, the MACC seized three mobile phones and various foreign currencies, including US dollars, Indonesian rupiah, and Bangladeshi taka, with a total value of about RM16,000. According to the source, between January and early this month, the MACC detected 10 transactions amounting to about RM138,000. "Preliminary investigations showed that for each foreigner, enforcement officers were bribed between RM1,800 and RM2,500. "Payments were made in cash through middlemen, typically inside vehicles or at the suspects' residences around Kuala Lumpur and Negri Sembilan," the source added. Meanwhile, MACC Intelligence Division Senior Director Datuk Saiful Ezral Arifin confirmed the arrests when contacted. He said the case is being investigated under Section 16(b) of the MACC Act 2009.
