"I ask you what is wrong with giving the young man a leg up in life?"

This was the question posed by ECM Libra Avenue chairperson Kalimullah Hassan when asked why a loan was extended to Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's son-in-law Khairy Jamaluddin to buy RM9.2 million worth of shares in the company.

In an interview with The Edge business weekly, Kalimullah, a journalist turned businessman, said the loan was given by him and his partners David Chua and Lim Kian Onn.

"All three of us did not have rich families and we made it because somebody helped us, gave us a leg up. What's wrong with us deciding we want to help Khairy? When he asked us for help, we decided to. His father was a civil servant. But he is bright and hard working and we decided we would help him.

"We have helped many people, but nobody talks about that. For two years, we had the foundation and helped hundreds of young Malaysians," he added.

Kalimullah, who is also the deputy chairperson of the New Straits Times Group (NSTP), was referring to an education foundation set up by him and his partners.

Personal loan

He said when Khairy bought into ECM, there was no need for full disclosure because he did not become a substantial shareholder and neither was he a member of the board of directors.

And the loan, he added, was not made by the company but by them personally.

"But we decided to be transparent. And look where transparency got us? In hindsight, we should not have been so transparent. And RM9.2 million is minuscule amount compared to the hundreds of millions in debts that other sons (of other personalities) have run up and not paid back. And that is to banks and financial institutions.

"This is a personal loan (to Khairy) which affects nobody but the three of us. Khairy never got a free meal at ECM. He worked hard, he got no free ticket," he said.

The ECM issue has come under scrutiny from opposition leaders and lately, even former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

Over the weekend, it was revealed that Khairy had sold his entire shareholding in the company while Kalimullah sold 16.26 million of his shares, leaving him with a less-than-substantial 4.8% stake. Both their stakes were acquired by AmcorpGroup Bhd.

Forced to take this step

Commenting on this, Kalimullah said he was "forced to take this step (reduce his stake) because of the unwarranted focus on ECM by politicians and by extension, the media".

The businessman, who disclosed that he was "very sad" by the developments, added: "I am doing it to protect the interest of ECM and all its shareholders. The attacks against us have been unfair and will hurt ECM and I don't want that to happen."

"I was hounded out of business by these people and I am giving up tp protect ECM. The company's shareholder value was being eroded because of me and Khairy. Staff morale was affected. This made our position untenable. I decided to sell because it was not fair on the other shareholders," he said.

"There are more than 1,000 firms listed on Bursa Malaysia and there are many politicians and their children who own substantial shares or who are chief executive officers. Yet the focus on ECM was unbelievably incommensurate.

"It seems ECM was not only governed by the regulators - Bursa Malaysia, Securities Commission and Bank Negara - but we also had to answer to politicians from all spectrums...," he added.

When pointed out that a point of contention were the valuations regarding the merger between ECM, after Khairy's entry, and Avenue Capital Resources Bhd controlled by the Minister of Finance Inc, Kalimullah said:

"That merger was approved by everybody, even the shareholders. The Avenue shareholders, 97% of them approved the deal. One percent abstained and two percent voted against. It was approved by the majority. Just because the minority was more vocal does not mean that the deal should not go through."

It's about connections

Kalimullah also revealed that he had been toying with the idea of selling his shares for several weeks and confirmed that the government-linked Amanah Raya Bhd had made an offer.

"I told Khairy about my decision and we considered our options. There was not really very much to choose from. We could continue and bring the whole business down or we could sell and let the business thrive without us," he said, adding, "We decided to sell together."

Asked why they did not opt to sell to Amanah, which was a better offer, he said: "They (the detractors) would have called it a bailout ( by a government-linked company). And we didn't want that."

As for ECM, Kalimullah said the company had done credible work for government institutions and big companies.

"The big companies are repeat clients with us, those like Maxis (Communications Bhd) and Measat (Satellites Systems Sdn Bhd) and the Berjaya Group..." he added.

When pointed out that many of the corporates might have decided to use ECM because of the perceived or real 'connections' provided by him and Khairy, he said: "But investment banking is about connections ... We are not ashamed of having relationships."

Meanwhile, Khairy, who is also the Umno Youth deputy chief, said he willingly sold his 10.2 million shares in the company to enable him to focus 100 percent on politics.

He also said he does not want the company or its shareholders to suffer because of the controversies that surround him.

Among others, the 31-year-old Oxford graduate, has been accused of influencing the decisions of his father-in-law, with some even going to the extent of calling him the country's 'de facto prime minister'.

Both the prime minister and Khairy have denied this.