A writ of summon had been served on a company belonging to Umno candidate for Putrajaya Tengku Adnan Mansor earlier this year for failure to settle a debt close to a million ringgit, raising the issue of whether the cabinet member had divested all his stakes in the corporate world.

Ministers contacted by malaysiakini said they were bound by a ministers' code of ethics and government general orders to divest themselves of their investments upon appointment to office to avoid conflict of interest.

Tengku Adnan was a successful businessman before being picked as a cabinet minister last year.

According to the writ which was served on Feb 12, the plaintiff, construction company Ehsan Bina claimed that Tengku Adnan's company, Sinaran Klasik failed to pay RM943,717.87 following the 'partial completion of a three-block hotel' in Kuala Lumpur.

A copy of the court document was made available to malaysiakini yesterday.

Sinaran Klasik, through its architect Prisma Athira Architect, had appointed Ehsan Bina as the contractor for the project and both parties signed the agreement on June 28, 2000.

Information obtained from the Companies Commission of Malaysia revealed that Tengku Adnan who was a minister at the Prime Minister's Department before the dissolution of Parliament held a 57.5 percent stake, or 5,175,000 shares, in the company.

Two others major shareholders include his brother Tengku Rethwan (3.5 percent or 315,000 shares) and Tan Chee Sing (39 percent or 3,510,000 shares), brother of prominent business tycoon Vincent Tan.

Good paymaster until recently

It is stated that the contractor (plaintiff) was requested to do additional works whenever necessary and the payment for these to be requested through a 'variation order' issued to the defendant.

It has been earlier agreed by both parties that the defendant will reimburse Ehsan Bina for the tower crane rental, insurance premium and others.

"With respect to the agreement, the plaintiff had completed all the jobs according to the specifications required," the writ stated.

This, it added, was certified by Prisma Athira through the issuance of a 'Architectural Certification on Completion of Work' on May 11, 2001.

The plaintiff also claimed that the variation order issued to the defendant had been verified either by the defendant's civil and structural engineer HS Liao Sdn Bhd, or mechanical and electrical engineer RMZ Perunding Consulting Engineers.

The writ stated that the defendant had been a good paymaster until the end of the 'defect liability period' in April 2002.

Part payment received

Of the RM1,000,717.87, an additional RM100,000 was paid to the plaintiff only in January 2004 after numerous requests for the settlement.

For the remaining amount, the plaintiff is demanding the principal plus eight percent interest per year upon the filing of the summons until full payment is made.

Efforts to contact Tengku Adnan for his response has been unsuccessful.

Tengku Adnan, who is Kuala Lumpur Umno chief, is contesting against Parti Keadilan Rakyat's (Keadilan) Abdul Rahman Othman in the new Putrajaya seat which is mainly made up of civil servants.

There are 4,643 registered voters in this constituency, consisting of 95 percent Malays, 2.7 percent Indians and 1.8 percent Chinese.