Materia Medica Malaysiana

Fomema, eight firms sued KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 18: The Foreign Workers’ Medical Examination Monitoring Agency (Fomema), eight other companies and 11 individuals have been sued by a well-known academician and Konsortium Bersatu Perkhidmatan Kesihatan Sdn Bhd for alleged fraud involving more than RM300 million.
Fomema was set up following a proposal by KBPK to bring about a systematic and standardised medical examination of foreign workers and the Government awarded the concession to Fomema on Sept 17, 1997.

In the suit filed at the High Court registry at Wisma Denmark on Aug 22 via Messrs A.J. Ariffin, Yeo and Harpal, Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris Pro-Chancellor Professor Tan Sri Awang Had Salleh and KBPK are also suing the 20 defendants for misrepresentation and breach of statutory and fiduciary duties.

They claimed that the offences were committed between October 1997 and April last year by the defendants who allegedly siphoned off or fraudulently retained the money.

KBPK is the body which in 1994 submitted a proposal to the Government to bring about a systematic and standardised medical examination of foreign workers in Malaysia.

The 11 individuals named as defendants were Foreign Workers' Medical Examination Monitoring Agency (Fomema) chief executive officer Datuk Dr Mohamed Haniffa Abdullah and his wife Datin Dr Selvarasi Veerappan @ Mumtaz Begum, Dr Jit Singh, G. Usha Rani, A. Revathy , P. Jeyamany , Tan Kok Beng, Chee Yuet Fang, Abdul Rahim Awang, Noor Wasitah Panot and Yeo Tee Eong.

The companies being sued were Pengkalan Usaha (M) Sdn Bhd (PUSB), Casa Damansara Sdn Bhd (CASA), HealthPac Industries Sdn Bhd (HISB), Taiplus Trading Sdn Bhd, Pujangga Ajaib Sdn Bhd, Masa Perunding Sdn Bhd (MASA), Alaf Kasih Sdn Bhd, Anjur Dinamik Sdn Bhd (ADSB) and Fomema Sdn Bhd.

The wrong-doings alleged by Awang Had and KBPK against the defendants were related to the implementation of the medical scheme for foreign workers which Fomema — comprising ADSB, which holds 75 per cent equity, and Koperasi Doktor Malaysia Berhad (KDM) the remaining 25 per cent — was awarded the concessionaire.

However, Awang Had and KBPK claimed that the implementation of the scheme, especially relating to payments, was not according to the terms of arrangement made between Fomema and ADSB.

Under the terms of the arrangement, ADSB was required to pay all doctors, laboratories and X-ray clinics for the services rendered. Instead, as alleged by Awang Had and KBPK, Haniffa and Jit had made arrangements for the payments to be siphoned out of ADSB into other companies.

In the statement of claim, Awang Had and KBPK claimed that they only discovered the wrong-doings on which their claim was based after they entered into a sale and purchase agreement to dispose of all their interest in ADSB to Pantai Support Services Sdn Bhd and upon obtaining documents, resolutions, bank statements and correspondence, including documents submitted to the Securities Commission, pertaining to the sale.

They alleged that other defendants except Yeo, Fomema and ADSB, aided and abetted Haniffa, Jit and Selvarasi in carrying out the acts and dishonestly assisted in the breach of fiduciary duties and fraud, and had shared the ill-gotten proceeds.

Awang Had and KBPK claimed they also discovered that there had been misappropriation of ADSB's funds, as a result of which they sufferred "phenomenal financial losses".

Awang Had, who is a director and shareholder of KBPK, is also a director and shareholder of ADSB and Fomema.

Besides seeking orders from the court for refunds totalling more than RM300 million which they claimed had been siphoned off or retained fraudulently by the companies and individuals concerned, Awang Had and KBPK also seek declarations from the court, among others, that:

* KBPK was the originator of the scheme for the systematic medical examination of foreign workers in Malaysia.

* Haniffa, Selvarasi, Noor, Usha Rani and Jeyamany are accountable to them (plaintiffs) for the purchase price received by them from the sale of the ADSB shares held by MASA.

* Haniffa, Selvarasi and Jit as directors of ADSB were in breach of their fiduciary duties.

* PUSB, CASA, HISB, Taiplus, Pujangga, Usha Rani, Revathy, Jeyamany, Tan, Chee and Abdul Rahim were participants and had dishonestly assisted in the breach of fiduciary duties owed to the plaintiffs by Haniffa, Selvarasi and Jit; and

* Haniffa had perpetrated a fraud or deception on the Securities Commission and is consequently not entitled to any of the benefits from the sale of ADSB, PUSB and HISB to Pantai Support.

According to Awang Had and KBPK, in January 1994, they submitted a proposal for the systematic and standardised medical examination of foreign workers in Malaysia to the Government.

In April 1994, they entered into a memorandum of understanding with Yayasan Kobena Sdn Bhd and Koperasi Doktor Malaysia Berhad (KDM) to form a consortium to pursue the application for the concession jointly.