Isa Samad, the Wolf of Felda Street
“Now, that’s big talk coming from a someone who, on the 25th of June 2005, expressed shock and disbelief when suspended from UMNO after being found guilty on seven counts of money politics and vote buying”
THE THIRD FORCE
Tan Sri Isa Abdul Samad has been all the news the past two days. The chairman of Felda Global Ventures Holdings Berhad (FGV) courted controversy last Tuesday when he suspended the group’s president and CEO, Dato’ Zakaria Arshad.
According to reports, Isa had accused Zakaria of violating the company’s policy by allowing a long-time customer of the group – an Afghan company named Safitex – to purchase palm oil products without the safeguard of a letter of credit. The purchase was said to have been made through one of the group’s many subsidiaries, Delima Oil Products Sdn Bhd.
Just so that you know, Zakaria is no stranger to Delima, having served on the firm’s board as CEO between the years 2010 and 2013. While there, he instituted strategic reforms that brought about a significant reduction in operational costs for the company. More importantly, he is well accustomed with the Delima culture – so to speak – and the way the company conducts business with its clientele.
As the story goes, sometime in September 2016, the FGV concern deployed a shipment of palm oil products to Safitex on terms that were not supported by a letter of credit. I am made to understand that Isa instructed Zakaria to oversee Delima’s operations between the months of April and December that year, though the basis for this directive was not made clear to me. What is clear is that Safitex has yet to fulfil its obligations to Delima for the said shipment.
