KUALA LUMPUR – Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has taken Finance Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz to task, demanding the latter explain why loans amounting to RM2.51 billion were granted to the now-insolvent Genting Hong Kong (HK).
The PKR president, in a statement, questioned the approval of such large loans from Malayan Banking Bhd, CIMB Group, and RHB Bank Bhd to the embattled Hong Kong-based firm, and why the loans were given without any binding guarantees.
Anwar demanded Tengku Zafrul to come forward to explain the discrepancies, especially considering how national assets like Permodalan Nasional Bhd, Khazanah Nasional Bhd, and the Employees’ Provident Fund happen to be the majority investors in the three banks.
“How were the loans, with no guarantees, given so easily to a gambling company?
“Even though the company is registered in Hong Kong, the owners are Malaysian businessmen who should have, at least, given a personal guarantee or from the reserves within companies owned by them in Malaysia.
“The finance minister is urged to explain how the RM2.51 billion in loans will be honoured by Genting HK, who are now insolvent,” Anwar said in the statement.
This comes on the heels of Tan Sri Lim Kok Thay’s resignation from the Genting HK chairman and chief executive officer posts on Monday, days after the company had filed for liquidation of its cruise line Bermuda.
Lim’s resignation also saw him relinquishing his posts as executive director, and as a member of the remuneration committee and the nomination committee.
Following Lim’s decision to step down, his deputy Au Fook Yew vacated his position as deputy CEO, group president, and executive director.
Their departure from Genting HK came amid the company being embroiled in a dispute with the German state of Mecklenburg-West Pomerania, where Genting HK had, through court proceedings, demanded to be compensated with a payment of US$88 million (RM368 million).
However, a German court had reportedly ruled in favour of Mecklenburg-West Pomerania and rejected the payment request from Genting HK.
The money Genting HK claimed is in relation to an agreement with the German government in June to provide a bridging loan for the struggling dockyard operation on the Baltic coast.
The company had previously issued a warning of potential cross-defaults on financing arrangements amounting to US$2.8 billion following its decision to put its German shipbuilding business, MV Werften, into insolvency.
However, German officials reportedly blamed the insolvency on Genting HK’s rejection of a financial plan offered by the new government that took office last month. – The Vibes, January 27, 2022
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