For the last two years barber M Muniandy was cropping hair, shaving and shampooing patrons blissfully oblivious that he was the managing director of a company dealing in general trading in investment properties.

The illiterate barber's rude awakening of the scam played on him came in the form of a letter from the Companies Commission of Malaysia (CCM) demanding that the accounts for the financial year of 2006 within 30 days of the notice which he received early this month or face the possibility of a RM2,000 fine.

Totally bewildered, the resident of Taman Ehsan Tasek in Ipoh, turned to Parti Sosialis Malaysia central committee member K Kunasekaran on Wednesday who helped him lodge a police report on Friday.

The PSM had official also obtained a photocopy of the information search he had conducted on the RM2 shell company.

At a press conference he held yesterday afternoon, Kunasekaran gave details of what had transpired.

illiterate barber 141109 m muniandy Muniandy, 59, had been registered with CCM together with another as directors of a Selangor based-company (Wawasan Dayamas Sdn Bhd) dealing in general trading investments properties.

According to the corporate information the paid-up capital of the company is RM2 and the registered business address is 703B, Kompleks Diamond Bangi Business Park, Bandar Baru Bangi, Selangor.

The company's other director is named as Reizal Abdul Jabar and a company secretary by the name of Wong Kok Hei had allbeen appointed on Oct 27, 2004 with the firm itself being registered on Oct 11, 2004.

There are also two female shareholders with each holding a share. The company had submitted its accounts to CCM for only the first two financial years of 2004 and 2005.

Yesterday, Kunasekaran had helped Muniandy lodge a police report on the alleged fraud, at the Kampong Tawas police station.

Poor illiterate MD

The same day he also sent a copy of the police report attached to a letter by Muniandy that he had nothing to do with the RM2 company addressed to one Narainasami Alagu, deputy registrar of CCM, Kuala Lumpur.

Muniandy said, "How can I be a managing director of a company in Selangor when I am just a poor barber who is not educated and illiterate.

"I am earning just enough to feed my family of six children and how can I pay the fine of RM2,000," he asked.

The origin of his woes could lie in Kuala Lumpur where he went work in 2004 for eight months before returning home to Ipoh to set up his own barbershop.

He could not explain how the details and copy of his identity card (IC) were made available to CCM for him to be registered as a director of the company.

However, Kunasekaran suggested that somebody might have sneakily managed to photocopy Muniandy's IC for submission to the CCM.

Still, there are too many questions hanging over the whole affair, he said.

He then listed the following questions that continue to puzzle:

  • why the other partners of the company should pick and register an illiterate barber as a partner of the RM2 shell company?
  • if Muniandy is the managing director then who had signed the company's annual returns forf 2004 and 2005?
  • did CCM contact the other director and secretary for clarification for non-submission of company accounts or does it only want to target Muniandy alleged as the managing director.
  • why did it take CCM four years to go after the company?