A former chief executive officer of Felda Investment Corporation Sdn Bhd (FIC) has been charged with allegedly deceiving the company’s board of directors over a proposed commercial development involving Felda land at Jalan Semarak in 2014.
Zaid Abdul Jalil, the former FIC CEO, pleaded not guilty to two charges after they were read before Sessions Court Judge Rosli Ahmad.
The first charge alleges that Zaid deceived the FIC board into believing that Synergy Promenade Sdn Bhd was eligible to be appointed as the project’s master developer, when he allegedly knew the company was only eligible to serve as the master planner.
He is accused of inducing the board to approve Synergy Promenade’s appointment as master developer through the alleged misrepresentation. The offence was allegedly committed at Menara Felda on January 16, 2014.
The second charge relates to the valuation of 24 lots of Felda land intended for the commercial development.
Zaid allegedly deceived the FIC board into believing that the market value assessment for the 24 lots was RM330.96 million, despite allegedly knowing that Firdaus & Associates Property Professionals Sdn Bhd had reported the value at RM691.7 million.
He is also accused of representing that the 24 lots had an indicative valuation of RM180 million, despite allegedly knowing that the valuation and property services department had never provided such an assessment to FIC.
The prosecution alleges that the representations led the FIC board to accept Synergy Promenade’s offer based on a proposed minimum guaranteed return of RM500 million or 10% of the project’s gross development value, whichever was higher.
The second alleged offence took place at Menara Felda on April 29, 2014.
Both charges were brought under Section 417 of the Penal Code for cheating. If convicted, the offence carries a maximum jail term of five years, a fine, or both.
