KUALA LUMPUR: The Selangor government has been challenged to explain how a debt recovery exercise to get back RM392mil from a public listed company ended in questionable deals worth more than RM1bil.

The state government is said to have acquired land worth RM392mil and bought additional assets for RM284mil from Talam Corporation - bringing the total acquisition to RM676mil.

MCA Young Professionals Bureau chief Datuk Chua Tee Yong said the state government also received a RM392mil grant to facilitate the debt recovery exercise.

“Talam owed Unisel and PNSB a total of RM277mil and SAP Holdings RM115mil, and the debts had yet to be settled,” he told a packed press conference yesterday.

MCA Young Professionals Bureau chief Datuk Chua Tee Yong said the debt owed to three state entities had yet to be settled.

Chua said the three state entities had never been repaid despite the Pakatan Rakyat state government claiming that Talam had cleared its debts.

According to the annual report of Kumpulan Hartanah Sdn Bhd, the parent company of SAP Holdings, the RM115mil was still outstanding.

“It is shocking that the state started out trying to recover a RM392mil debt and ended up with questionable deals amounting to more than RM1bil,” Chua said.

“The Selangor government should explain the acquisition of RM676mil worth of assets and the use of the RM392mil grant.”

He also noted that RM266mil was paid to Talam's bankers, according to the company's financial report.

Chua added that his check showed the Talam annual report disclosed that on March 12, 2010, and April 9, 2010, the Selangor government purchased assets worth RM676mil from the company.

“Before the deal with the Pakatan Selangor government, Talam was still under PN17 with lots of debts.

“When a company is under that category, that means financially it is not in good shape and can be de-listed which will be detrimental to the shareholders.

“The shares of Talam cannot be traded in the stock exchange before the deal with the Selangor government.

“After the deal with the state government, Talam is no longer under PN17,” Chua said.

Chua added this was a “clear-cut case of a bailout where the Selangor government used the rakyat's money to help a listed company by buying its assets”.

“I am also made to understand that assets that the Selangor government had acquired from Talam had not been sold to external parties.

“Neither were any development projects carried out on the land which was acquired,” he said.

Chua added that it had been reported in the Selangor Times, the state government mouthpiece, that the state government had embarked on programmes for the people with RM300mil proceeds from the Talam deal.

“This is a lie, a sham, because the Talam deal involved asset acquisition,” he said.

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