Maika Holdings, the investment arm of MIC, has no new plans in the pipeline to buy back shares from its investors despite a personal assurance from party president S Samy Vellu three months ago.

A Maika official told malaysiakini that the assurance by Samy Vellu to give RM130 for every RM100 invested was not a plan mooted by the investment arm.

"We have not heard of that plan until Samy Vellu was quoted in the Tamil papers as giving that assurance," added the official who wanted to remain anonymous.

Last November, Samy Vellu assured Maika shareholders that he will personally ensure that they get their money back in three months.

That deadline is just two days away and many investors are still in the dark as to their situation.

Samy Vellu was then quoted as saying that he would never let down investors who invested in Maika.

"Shareholders who invested in Maika because of me will not be cheated. I will never let them down. For those who want their money back, I have made arrangements to give it back to them in three months.

"For all these shareholders and investors, Samy Vellu is the guarantee," he was reported as saying by Tamil newspapers.

New scheme in June

However, the Maika official said the investment arm had not received any proposals from Samy Vellu on the buy-back scheme.

In fact, the official added, Maika Holdings was going to propose its own scheme in the next Annual General Meeting which will be held in June.

"At the meeting, we will explain our situation and then propose a new scheme to buy back shares from our investors," said the official.

Maika chief executive officer S Vell Paari, who is also Samy Vellu's son, was not available for comment.

Samy Vellu, who is also the works minister, is presently on an official trip to Ghana and could not be reached for comment.

According to a MIC leader close to the leadership, Samy Vellu is working from outside Maika Holdings to tie up a deal to save the investors.

"His concern is that many of these investors had coughed up the money as a result of being convinced by him. He does not want to leave them in a lurch. He is confident of settling the money with the investors," he added.

When malaysiakini visited the Maika headquarters last week, it was learnt that many investors had submitted their share certificates in response to Samy Vellu's assurance.

For these investors, Maika is in the process of telling them that they would not be getting RM130 for every RM100.

"What we can work out for them is to buy back their shares at the price they bought it for - RM1 for RM1," said an official who has been dealing with these investors.

Previously, malaysiakini reported that not all shareholders were excited with Samy Vellu's guarantee.

Pensioner A Mutthiah, 60, from Rawang said then that he would only believe when he sees the money.

Similarly another shareholder M Alagamai, who is in her 60s, is also pessimistic about the prospect of seeing her money again.

"They have not even paid us any dividends for a long time. Now he (Samy Vellu) is saying he will guarantee the return of my money. Show me the money first. I don't trust him on this," she had said.

Alagamai worked as a rubber tapper in an estate in Kuala Selangor when she was convinced by a grassroots MIC leader to part with her life savings to invest in Maika Holdings.

"The MIC leader told me that Samy Vellu will ensure that we all will become rich. I am still waiting to become rich," she said.

Contacted today, both these shareholders were not surprised with the latest development.

"Anyways, he has two more days to go before his deadline ends. He still has time. Let's see if he comes out with our money," said Mutthiah.

Campaign by Tamil daily

Maika Holdings was established in 1982 purportedly to enable Indian Malaysians to share in the country's economic growth.

The company raised RM106 million in 1984 from 66,000 investors - many by pawning their jewellery and selling their properties to invest - but some shareholders had since accused the company of squandering the capital through dubious channels after seeing little returns to their investments.

Many of Maika Holdings business ventures had failed to take off. It has only paid its shareholders cash dividends on seven occasions to date, the last being in 1995.

Tamil-language daily Makkal Osai has been running a countdown to the deadline, publishing articles from grassroots leaders and shareholders reminding Samy Vellu and Vell Paari about the repayment.

Today, the daily carried a front page report quoting prominent local businessman R Arumugam as saying that shareholders were being cheated once again by the political party which is suppose to represent the Indian community.

"Samy Vellu should not be silent on this matter. He should stick to his promise to return the money to the investors," the daily quoted the Penang businessman as saying.