Carpet trader Deepak owes Bank Rakyat RM215 million, says PAS
The Malaysian Insider – 19 hours agoRELATED CONTENT
- Carpet trader Deepak owes Bank Rakyat RM215 million, says PAS
Controversial businessman Deepak Jaikishan owes Bank Rakyat RM215 million, and not RM32 million as previously reported, PAS information chief Datuk Mahfuz Omar (pic) said today.
Mahfuz said he discovered that Deepak's firm, Carpet Tile Sdn Bhd, had an outstanding debt of RM32 million owed to the government-owned bank.
Deepak had also taken out a personal loan of RM40 million from Bank Rakyat, and borrowed another RM198 million through his housing firm, Radiant Splendour Sdn Bhd.
"What is shocking is that Deepak and the companies have failed to pay back the loans based on the terms stipulated in the contracts, to the point that an agreement was drawn out to restructure the payments," Mahfuz told reporters in Kuala Lumpur today.
"This means Bank Rakyat collected the debts from Deepak without any profit, and he was not fined the required RM4.62 million."
Mahfuz said this after submitting a memorandum to the bank demanding it explain why it had not fined Deepak for his late loan repayments.
Mahfuz also questioned the security measures Bank Rakyat practised to ensure borrowers paid back their loans.
"If the borrower fails to adhere to the new borrowing conditions, what measures would Bank Rakyat take?" he asked.
"Why is Bank Rakyat giving special treatment to Deepak?"
His memorandum was accepted by Bank Rakyat's senior marketing and communication vice-president Saliman Zainal.
Former Bank Rakyat chairman Tan Sri Sabbaruddin Chik had told The Malaysian Insider that Deepak used his political influence to settle his debts through the intervention of Domestic Trade, Cooperative and Consumerism Minister Datuk Seri Hasan Malek (pic, below), a claim which the minister denied.
The government-owned bank is not under Bank Negara's purview and is not subjected to the national bank laws. It comes under the jurisdiction of Hasan's ministry.
Sabbaruddin said the board of directors had initially rejected the compromise offered by Deepak to settle his outstanding debt.
Deepak was said to have offered to repay his outstanding debts through 120 post-dated cheques within a 10-year period.
Sabaruddin said Hasan was unhappy with the board's decision and refused to sign the letter extending the former's tenure as Bank Rakyat chairman.
Sabaruddin also claimed the minister held a meeting with Deepak in January without the bank's knowledge.
After Sabbaruddin's revelations, Bank Rakyat issued a statement saying interest fees did not exist in Islamic banking.
However, it did not deny Sabbaruddin's accusations.
But Hasan told The Malaysian Insider that everything had been done according to procedure.
He also challenged anyone to probe that he had committed any wrongdoing by persuading Bank Rakyat to give Deepak the interest-free deal.
Deepak has yet to respond to Sabbaruddin's allegations. – July 14, 2014.
