Kuala Dimensi bonds issuance above board, says banker

Saturday, 12 November 2011 11:21

KUALA LUMPUR: Bonds issued by Kuala Dimensi Sdn Bhd (KDSB) through Special Port Vehicle Bhd (SPVB) had met all the legal requirements, and received the approval of the Securities Commission Malaysia (SC), the High Court was told.

Testifying in the trial of former Transport Minister Tun Dr Ling Liong Sik, who is facing charges over the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) issue, former Malaysian International Merchant Bankers Bhd (MIMB) senior vice-president Ismadi Isenin agreed that the MIMB had found the bonds "commercially viable".

Cross-examined by Dr Ling's counsel Wong Kian Kheong, Ismadi also agreed that the SC had not pursued any case against SPVB for breaching any rules in their bond issuance, and that the trustees of the bonds also did not have any complaints on the matter.

MIMB, who is the primary subscriber of the bonds, bought the bonds at RM1.31bil, and then sold them to 17 secondary subscribers at RM1.35bil, making a profit of RM40mil.

MIMB was also the lead arranger and facility agent of the bonds.

Earlier, Mohd Izzuddin Yusof, formerly with the Malaysian Rating Corporation Berhad (MARC), testified during his examination-in-chief by DPP Adilla Ahmad that a letter of support from Dr Ling had helped secure a top-tier rating for the bonds raised.

"In my opinion, without the letter of support, it is possible that the rating given by MARC would be lower than AAA because the letter had a high weightage in determining the bond rating," he said.

The bonds were issued to raise funds for the purchase of the 404.5ha land in Pulau Indah land, meant for the PKFZ project.

Dr Ling has claimed trial to an amended principal charge of deceiving the Government by not exposing to the Cabinet an additional interest rate of 7.5% annually in the land purchase for the PKFZ project.

He faces two optional charges of cheating the Government by not revealing to the Cabinet facts pertaining to the interest rate, and deceiving it into believing that facts on the land bought at RM25 psf and 7.5% interest were certified and agreed to by the Valuation and Pro-perty Services Department when he knew there was no such consent.

Dr Ling is said to have committed the offences at the Prime Minister’s office in Putrajaya between Sept 25 and Nov 6, 2002.

The hearing before Justice Ahmadi Asnawi continues on Monday.

From The Star