GEORGE TOWN, March 26 — Penang Development Corporation (PDC) does not have any links to the defunct pyramid scheme MBI, said Penang chief minister Chow Kon Yeow.
He said PDC sold the RM1.07 billion Bayan Mutiara land through a request for proposal back in 2011 to Ivory Properties Group.
He said the sale of the land was for a mixed development project to be built on 102.6 acres of reclaimed land.
“If you ask me, whether previously or now, PDC does not have any connections to MBI,” he said.
Chow, who is also PDC chairman, said PDC was also not called in to assist in investigations by Bukit Aman.
“We will leave it to the police to investigate,” he said.
According to news reports earlier today, police are believed to be investigating the money trail of MBI in Kuala Lumpur and Penang, including transactions involving Bayan Mutiara in Penang.
Chow said the Bayan Mutiara land sale was finalised in 2018 and the group appointed Tropicana Ivory Sdn Bhd to implement the project.
Although the land sale was finalised, he said any change in the company equity required PDC’s consent.
He said on November 1 in 2019, PDC signed a supplemental agreement for the change in equity for Tropicana Ivory where Hemat Tuah had bought over 100 per cent of the company.
“Tropicana Ivory was changed to Mutiara Metropolis Sdn Bhd,” he said.
He said Mutiara Metropolis is now responsible for carrying out the project with a schedule completion by November 11 in 2028.
He said they had applied for an extension but it is still under consideration.
“Out of the 102 acres for the project, 67.5 acres are reclaimed land and the company will have to reclaim the remaining 35 acres,” he said.
He said reclamation works have already started and are now at 60 per cent completion.
It was reported in The Edge that a brother of MBI founder Tedy Teow Wooi Huat is the major shareholder of Hemat Tuah while another individual, holding 15 per cent share, is said to be Teow’s brother-in-law.
