Felda may lose land worth RM200 million at Jalan Semarak

(FMT) – Felda risks losing ownership of a plot of land at Jalan Semarak, Kuala Lumpur, with an estimated value of RM200 million, according to a report in Berita Harian (BH).

The report said the land title was transferred in a “dubious” transaction in 2015.

BH said a search at the Kuala Lumpur Federal Territory lands and mines department showed the 16-hectare plot, where the old Felda headquarters Anjung Felda and Wisma Felda are located, was transferred on July 21, 2016 to a company related to the developer appointed to develop the land.

So far, Felda has not made any announcement on the transfer of title or any transaction to take over the land by the developer, the BH report said.

Quoting sources, it said the land title transfer occurred after Felda Investment Corporation (FIC) appointed a local company as the main developer on June 3, 2014 and awarded it full power of attorney to develop the land.

Felda was headed by Isa Samad as chairman until January. He had been chairman of FIC since the company’s formation on July 2, 2013.

The land is being developed for the Kuala Lumpur Vertical City (KLVC) project, which will have seven towers, including the iconic Felda tower, KLVC Tower1A, a 68-storey building with basement car parking facilities and a helipad.

According to BH, all decisions to appoint the developer were made by FIC and brought to the attention of the Felda board of directors three months later.

“There was confusion from the point of view of the management since the Felda board of directors did not know who actually made the decisions, FIC or Felda, because the same people sat on the boards of FIC and Felda.

“Felda issued the power of attorney letter to the developer to develop the land but the land was then transferred to the developer’s company in December 2015,” said the sources quoted by BH.

There were earlier media reports that the land would be developed for a mixed commercial-residential project by FIC subsidiary Encorp Bhd.

However, on Nov 6, 2014, Kuala Lumpur City Hall received an application seeking approval to develop the same site from KLVC.

A check with the Companies Commission of Malaysia showed KLVC was a newly incorporated company formed only the previous January.