PAS MP claims Bank Rakyat loaned carpet-trader RM215m, interest free
(Malay Mail Online) – Controversial businessman Deepak Jaikishan (pic) was given a whopping RM215 million interest-free loan from state-owned Bank Rakyat, a PAS lawmaker alleged today, despite Putrajaya’s claims otherwise.
Citing his own investigations, Pokok Sena MP Datuk Mahfuz Omar said the bank had not only loaned RM32 million to Deepak’s company Carpet Tile Sdn Bhd as previously reported, it had also authorised RM40 million personally to the carpet trader and a further RM198 million loan to property developer Radiant Splendour Sdn Bhd, which is also linked to the same man.
“Based on my investigations, the total from the two loans have to be paid off immediately with the remaining RM32 million, originally RM40 million, comes up to about RM215 million,” he told reporters at the new Bank Rakyat headquarters on Jalan Travers.
Last month, Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Ahmad Maslan had said the carpet dealer’s loan repayment method had been “restructured” although he failed to state clearly if this included interest.
Several opposition MPs had demanded Putrajaya explain accusations that Domestic Trade, Cooperative and Consumerism Minister Datuk Seri Hasan Malek had ordered Bank Rakyat to write off interest on Deepak’s loan.
Deepak first gained notoriety after being linked to the 2006 murder scandal of Mongolian model Altantuya Shaariibuu.
Last year, he blamed Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and his wife Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor for a series of business projects that had soured and accused an Umno senator of cheating him out of millions of ringgit in a land deal in Bukit Raja, Selangor.
Today, Mahfuz, who is also PAS information chief, demanded that Bank Rakyat reveal details of the negotiation which allegedly led to the special treatment given to Deepak, at the bank’s expense.
He claimed that Deepak and the companies had failed to pay off all three loans, leading to a settlement agreement signed with the state-owned bank to restructure the debts.
Former Bank Rakyat chairman Tan Sri Sabbaruddin Chik had reportedly said that his tenure as chairman of the bank was not extended after he and the bank’s board of directors turned down Deepak’s proposed repayment method.
The agreement purportedly allowed Deepak to pay off the RM32 million loan via monthly installments of RM270,000 for the next 10 years, effective January this year.
The deal also included the suspension of all legal action against Deepak and the companies related to him, in the event of a failure to pay off the balance from the term loan of RM32 million.
