Pasarakyat’s Jho Low connection

PETALING JAYA (June 30): Ladang Impian 1 Sdn Bhd (LI1SB) which held a 15-year lease upon on the four acres upon which Pasarakyat was located, was paid RM35 million to terminate its lease seven years ahead of its expiry on January 1 this year, reported The Edge weekly.

LI1SB is a unit of Loh & Loh Corp Bhd (LLC), which is believed to have ties to fugitive financier Low Taek Jho, better known as Jho Low.

LLC was delisted on Dec 21, 2010 after it was privatised by Javace Sdn Bhd and PetroSaudi International; however, its 2011 audited financial reports show that LI1SB was paid RM35 million to terminate the lease – signed by the Federal Land Commissioner – and LLC made a RM26.26 million gain on disposal from the compensation.

The market was demolished to make way for the 70-acre Tun Razak Exchange, with the former market site believed to house the financial district’s MRT station since the tentative name of the stop is Pasar Rakyat Station.

The latest filings from the Companies Commssion of Malaysia show that LLC is currently owned by Selesa Produktif Sdn Bhd and is ultimately owned by Datuk Che Abdullah @ Rashidi Che Omar via Ring Excellence Sdn Bhd and Collective Bridge Sdn Bhd.

Che Abdullah was a director of SRC International Ltd when it was incorporated as a subsidiary of 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) in 2011, and is currently a non-executive director of Sime Darby Plantation Bhd, according to its website.

LI1SB became a unit of LLC following a settlement with a debtor, according to a Bursa Malaysia announcement on May 17, 2006.

The company then owned eight plots of land measuring 10.407 acres at Jalan Melati, off Jalan Imbi and Jalan Tun Razak, which gave LLC the opportunity to develop prime leasehold lands in Kuala Lumpur.

Pasarakyat was occupying one of these parcels.