KPS says lawsuit against the group alleging land fraud in Kuala Langat involves a 42-year-old deal

• “We are currently collating and reviewing pertinent documentation from 42 years ago and will be providing response via announcements to Bursa Securities and other related channels on material development in this case,” said KPS managing director cum group chief executive officer Ahmad Fariz Hassan in a press statement filed with Bursa Malaysia on Wednesday.

KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 15): Kumpulan Perangsang Selangor Bhd (KPS), which is being sued — together with Menteri Besar Selangor (Inc), or MBI, and the Kuala Langat land administrator — by three individuals for alleged fraud involving a land transaction in Kuala Langat, said the deal occurred 42 years ago.

“It is important to note that KPS has a long-standing commitment to ethical business practices and legal compliance. We will thoroughly investigate the claims made in the writ of summons and statement of claim.

“We are currently collating and reviewing pertinent documentation from 42 years ago and will be providing response via announcements to Bursa Securities and other related channels on material development in this case,” said KPS managing director cum group chief executive officer Ahmad Fariz Hassan in a press statement filed with Bursa Malaysia on Wednesday.

The transaction involves two parcels of land at Brooklyn and Sungai Kelambu in Kuala Langat that measures a total of 9.21 acres, and were part of a mining scheme under KPS.

On Tuesday (Nov 14), KPS announced via a bourse filing that the three individuals — Tan Kok Heong, Tan Kok Cheng and Tan Kok Gea — had initiated the lawsuit against the group, alleging that the two parcels of land had belonged to the deceased parents of Kok Heong and Kok Cheng, namely Ang Kua and Tan Hooy. Kok Gea claimed to be the appointed administrator of the two deceased.

The trio claimed that there was an agreement that the parcels would be replaced with land in Brooklyn, but the defendants had allegedly defrauded or conspired to defraud them of the parcels, which resulted in them being sold to a third party.

In the suit, they are seeking a declaration from the court that they were the previous owners of the parcels, and that a land replacement agreement issued by MBI and KPS at the time are valid, and claimed that there was a breach of trust by the defendants, saying they had repudiated the agreement as they failed to give the plaintiffs the promised replacement land.

As such, they want to be compensated for alleged damages they suffered in the deal, based on the market value of the lands that had been sold by KPS, or based on previous land assessments made by the Inland Revenue Board of Malaysia.

The lawsuit has been fixed for case management on Dec 5, according to KPS, who said it will take all necessary steps to defend itself against the suit.

KPS shares slipped 1.5 sen or 1.87% to close at 78 sen on Wednesday, giving the group a market capitalisation of RM419.21 million. Year to date, it is up nine sen or 12.14%.

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