New twist to Plentiful Gold-Class saga

KUALA LUMPUR: Plentiful Gold-Class Bhd, caught in a saga involving 10,000 members of its oil palm farm-sharing investment scheme, has dropped a bombshell against the Minority Shareholder Watchdog Group (MSWG).

Its chairman Tan Sri Lee Kim Yew yesterday claimed that MSWG chief executive officer Rita Benoy Bushon was an interested party in the Country Heights Grower Scheme (CHGS) as a grower.

"I am shocked to learn Bushon, who has subscribed to eight plots, is an interested party in the CHGS as a grower."

In a strongly-worded letter to MSWG chairman Tan Sri Abdul Halim Ali, Lee "lodged an official complaint" for the comments and representations made by Bushon to the growers, media and public at large.

The comments, he said, had undermined Plentiful Gold-Class's circular and the independent advice of its independent adviser Ferrier and Hodgson Corporate Finance.

Lee urged Abdul Halim to clarify that the eight plots owned by Bushon was in her personal capacity and not via MSWG.

He claimed Bushon was "made aware" of the difficulties that the plantation is facing during last year's CHGS's fifth dividend payout explanatory letter.

The proxy submission deadline closed at 10am yesterday, ahead of the general meeting to be held at the Malaysia International Exhibition and Convention Centre tomorrow.

The investors were given the opportunity to invest in the palm oil sector under CHGS, which is managed by Plentiful Gold-Class, a unit of Bee Garden Holdings Sdn Bhd.

CHGS was unable to meet the 12 per cent promised returns due to low yields which led to the move to terminate the scheme.

Lee, who is the founder of the scheme, said the proposed voluntary termination will ensure that the growers will not lose money.

Instead, they will be receiving RM294 million compared with the RM215 million that the scheme raised.

Lee said he was disappointed that the MSWG was fighting a case that is not under a public-listed company but one governed by a trust deed and management agreement.