Former Maika Holdings chief executive officer S Vell Paari has promised to quit MIC, in which he is strategy director, if Senator Jaspal Singh can prove his allegations on to the newly-resurfaced Oriental Capital Assurance Bhd issue in seven days.

NONE However, if Jaspal fails to successfully substantiate his claims against Vell Paari on the sale and listing of the former Maika Holdings asset, Vell Paari then asked if the MIC treasurer-general was willing to resign as senator for “misleading the Upper House”.

“I am giving Jaspal seven days to prove his allegations, and if he does so, then I will quit from MIC and volunteer myself to be investigated by the relevant authorities.

“But if he fails to do so, is Jaspal prepared to resign as a senator for misleading the Upper House?” the son of former MIC president S Samy Vellu said in a statement today.

He was referring to Jaspal’s claims made in the Senate two weeks ago over the “ mismanagement ” of Maika, where Jaspal raised doubts over the sale of Oriental Capital in 2012 and the subsequent listing of the renamed Tune Insurance Malaysia Bhd (TIMB) at a much higher value.

Vell Paari had helmed the debt-ridden investment arm of MIC from 1999 to mid-2010, after which prominent businessperson G Gnanalingam’s special purpose vehicle (SPV) G-Team took control of Maika and its assets after offering to buy back all shares from Maika shareholders, comprising mainly poor Indian Malaysians.

This was followed by the purchase of Oriental Capital by Tune Ins Holding Bhd (TIHB) from G-Team for RM153 million.

In a move Vell Paari linked to the coming MIC elections, Jaspal had in the Upper House questioned the listing of Oriental Capital, now TIMB, in the Malaysian stock exchange last year with a market capitalisation of RM1.2 billion.

NONE Jaspal had also yesterday questioned Vell Paari’s explanation that the increased value was due to TIHB bringing in new businesses to increase the profit to RM80 million prior to listing.

However, Vell Paari responded that Jaspal had erred in his assumption that it was TIMB that was listed.

Instead, it was actually its parent company TIHB that was the listed vehicle, hence the RM80 million in profit was a result from insurance businesses it possesses.

“So the ball is in your court (to prove the allegations), Jaspal,” Vell Paari said today.

“The fact that this issue is being raised now shows the desperation of certain powers in MIC to cling on to power, the same powers who never uttered a word of protest when my father was the president.”

Vell Paari said these same people, who once feared losing their positions in the party and “kept silent”, were now trying to “act like heroes”.

Malaysiakini has contacted Jaspal for his response but he stated that he is overseas at the moment.