By Debra Chong
The Malaysian Insider
Aug 13, 2011

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 13 — Several government-linked companies (GLCs) are perturbed by Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz’s attempts to justify Putrajaya’s intervention into ongoing lawsuits against Tan Sri Tajuddin Ramli and claimed the de facto law minister was giving out misleading information.

Nazri claimed an out-of-court settlement was the best solution. — File picA source close to several parties named in the lengthy series of suits and counter-suits involving Tajuddin pointed out that the former poster boy for Bumiputera entrepreneurship had lost his RM13 billion countersuit against national debt restructuring company Danaharta in 2009.

Among several documents obtained by The Malaysian Insider, a High Court judgment on December 7, 2009 showed trial judge Anatham Kasinather had awarded a total sum of RMRM589,143,205.57 to Danaharta, its two subsidiaries and its four managing directors named as Datuk Azman Yahya, Datuk Abdul Hamidy Hafiz, Datuk Zukri Samat and Datuk Kris Azman Abdullah.

The same trial judge had also dismissed Tajuddin’s RM13 billion countersuit against Danaharta and its agencies a month earlier on November 12, 2009.

The source related that the GLCs and their directors were stunned with disbelief at Nazri’s reasoning that an out-of-court settlement was the best solution to save the federal government billions of ringgit in legal claims.

“Nazri misled the public when he said ‘Our total claims by the companies against Tajuddin are only half a billion ringgit. That is why we said we should sit down and talk’. His claim that Tajuddin has the bargaining power and that the GLCs were disadvantaged is nonsense. The RM13 billion against Danaharta was also plucked from thin air,” the source told The Malaysian Insider yesterday on condition of anonymity.

“Tajuddin was the only one who owed money and Danaharta did not owe him anything,” the source said and quizzed: “So what is there to negotiate?”

Tajuddin allegedly caused MAS to suffer losses in excess of RM8 billionFederal Court judge Tan Sri Md Raus Sharif has been put in charge of managing the ongoing slew suits involving a total 38 parties, including Danaharta and Malaysia Airlines (MAS), due to Tajuddin’s appeal after losing his counter-claim.

The cases have been dragging on for the past 1½ years and have yet to be fixed for hearing at the Court of Appeal.

Nazri had told The Malaysian Insider yesterday that he had written to GLCs earlier this month seeking for them to withdraw their suits, worth at least RM2 billion, to buy time for all concerned parties to reach a “win-win” agreement and put an end to the prolonged financial saga involving Tajuddin.

The minister in the Prime Minister’s Department had said that to defend himself, Tajuddin, who is facing millions in legal claims for allegedly causing MAS to suffer losses in excess of RM8 billion during his tenure, had made a whopping RM13 billion counter-claim.

“Our total claims by the companies against Tajuddin are only half a billion ringgit. That is why we said we should sit down and talk,” he said.

Datuk Seri Najib Razak directly stepped into the fray yesterday to defend his administration’s intervention, saying the move should be seen as an “off-site” solution and not be misconstrued as an out-of-court settlement.

The Najib government’s move to settle all outstanding claims against Tajuddin appears to be an attempt to wipe the slate clean in a financial saga that goes back decades to the height of Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s administration.

MAS had first lodged a police report against Tajuddin in 2002 for allegedly causing the flag carrier to suffer losses in excess of RM8 billion. Tajuddin was the executive chairman of the airline from 1994 to 2001.