Suit involving ‘business partners’ in Sarawak solar project to go for full trial
KUALA LUMPUR : The High Court today ordered a suit involving two alleged former business partners in the Sarawak schools solar project to proceed for a full trial.
Businessman Rayyan Radzwill Abdullah sued Saidi Abang Samsudin, former managing director of Jepak Holdings Sdn Bhd, to recover RM9 million in “consultant fees” that he said Saidi had promised him, after they secured the RM1.25 billion solar project.
A sum of RM1 million was paid to Rayyan some time in August 2017.
Judge Ahmad Bache dismissed Saidi’s bid to strike out Rayyan’s suit on grounds that there is a “strong case against the defendant (Saidi) for him to answer”.
“The claim was not ‘obviously unsustainable’. Neither was it frivolous, vexatious and abuse of the court’s process,” he said in his written judgment.
Ahmad also said that if he granted Saidi’s striking-out attempt, Rayyan would lose everything and “will not even have his day in court as if the court is closing the doors for him to have recourse to justice”.
The court did not make any order to cost.
In his suit, Rayyan claimed that Saidi appointed him as adviser to prepare a working paper on the solar hybrid project and to secure the project. He claimed Saidi promised to pay him a fee of RM10 million after the project was secured.
Rayyan said he was paid only RM1 million but had yet to receive the remaining RM9 million.
However, Saidi contended that he never appointed Rayyan as an adviser for the project, and filed a counterclaim to recover the RM1 million paid to him.
Both men were key prosecution witnesses in Rosmah Mansor’s corruption trial, where she is accused of soliciting RM187.5 million from Saidi as an inducement to help the company secure the solar project for 369 rural schools in Sarawak, through direct negotiation from the education ministry.
She was also accused of receiving bribes amounting to RM6.5 million from Saidi between 2016 and 2017.
Source : freemalaysiatoday
