In its latest expose, the Sarawak Report has alleged that Sarawak Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud’s sister Raziah ( above ) received a loan of almost RM1 billion last June - and asks on what basis such a “breathtaking handout” was given by a bank owned by the national pension fund EPF.

rhb rashid hussein bank headquaters hq 160307 According to Companies Commission of Malaysia (CCM) documents, said the Sarawak Report , RM800 million was charged to Raziah’s company - Kumpulan Construction Sdn Bhd - on June 16 this year by RHB Islamic Bank Bhd and RHB Bank Bhd.

Kumpulan Construction is registered as having RM1 million share capital, five percent of which is owned by Raziah's sister Zaleha and the rest by Mastim Sdn Bhd, which Sarawak alleged is jointly-owned by Raziah and her husband Robert Geneid, an Australian national.  

NONE “Despite handling many public projects, Kumpulan Construction supplies no public information about the company.  

“However, from the limited details of its accounts provided through the Companies Commission, we know that the company made a turnover of RM43 million last year, registering an after tax profit of just under RM4 million.  

“Also, its reserve capital is  just over RM4 million, plus it has a share capital of RM1 million. 

“Given the company has overall liabilities of around RM 42 million, matched by its over-all assets, the loan seems inexplicable,” said Sarawak Report .

NONE Raziah had earlier been implicated by Sarawak Report in alleged attempts by a timber firm - Quality Concrete Holdings Bhd - to log one of the last remaining hardwood forests in the state.

There are two possible reasons for the loan of such magnitude to be issued to a “medium-sized” company such as Raziah’s, suggested the web portal.

On the one hand, Kumpulan Construction may have bagged yet another project in its long list of awards by the state government helmed by her brother Abdul Taib, said Sarawak Report citing information from the Construction Industry Development Board ( below ).

NONE It such a case, however, it would be "highly irregular" for such money to be advanced before the project had been confirmed and made public, it added.

“It would of course be highly irregular for a bank to proceed on a loan on this basis and risk (EPF) shareholders’ money (which in this case includes pensioners’) on unpublished state contracts, so maybe such speculations are unfounded? 

“If so, Sarawak Report would be happy to stand corrected by Kumpulan Construction and RHB Bank,” it said.

On the other hand, Sarawak Report speculated further, the loan could also have some connection to rumours that Raziah had bagged almost half of the RM3.4 billion in federal government infrastructure projects in the state announced earlier this year.

“The money is intended to be spent on upgrading roads and power supplies and improving basic infrastructure in the rural areas, but  it would certainly come as no surprise to learn that half of that entire budget is going straight through the hands of the sister of the chief minister,” it said.

Of course, Putrajaya would have decided to invest the RM3.4 billion with a view to influencing the upcoming state elections in BN’s favour.

However, said Sarawak Report , there is also the possibility of such a plan backfiring due to resentment at the continuous channelling of federal money into the hands of the Taib family.