Guan Eng, Leiking lied about funding for 3rd national car, says Wee

(FMT) – MCA president Wee Ka Siong has trained his guns on ministers Lim Guan Eng and Darell Leiking over the funding for the third national car.

This comes after DreamEDGE Sdn Bhd, the company driving the project, confirmed there is investment from the government in the company.

Lim, who is the finance minister, had previously said no public funds would be used for the project while Leiking, the international trade and industry minister, yesterday said the company awarded the third national car project is 100% privately owned.

“It is disappointing to see that the ministers who made these false claims and promises have refused to comment and have left it to the company awarded the project to issue a statement,” Wee told FMT.

“We are not questioning your company and we wish you all the best,” he added.

“But we are questioning the promise made by Lim Guan Eng.”

Last night, DreamEDGE CEO Khairil Adri Adnan rubbished Wee’s claim that the federal government is the largest shareholder in DreamEDGE through a company called VentureTECH Sdn Bhd, which he said is 100% owned by Malaysian Industry-Government Group for High Technology (MIGHT).

“MIGHT, in turn, is owned 100% by the government of Malaysia,” Wee said on Facebook.

Citing DreamEDGE’s paid-up capital of RM12.4 million up till 2018 and the losses it suffered last year, Wee also voiced doubt that the Cyberjaya-based company had the financial strength to invest in the third national car project.

“Billions of ringgit will be needed. The company will surely need a large injection of funds. And I am confident this injection of funds will come from its biggest shareholder — that is the Pakatan Harapan government.”

Khairil said VentureTECH, formerly known as A-Bio Sdn Bhd, only owns 10% of DreamEDGE. This had been the situation since 2017, adding that it does not even have a board representative appointed.

“The 150 Malaysians that make up DreamEDGE have a big job ahead.

“Please do not ruin our hard work by politicising this issue based on incomplete information,” he told Wee in a statement.

Wee noted that Khairil claimed the latest SSM (Companies Commission of Malaysia) document showing its share ownership was inaccurate and that the government does not own 53% of his company but only has a 10% share, with the rest of the investment being Redeemable Convertible Preference Shares (RCPS).

Wee said whether the government owns 53% or 10% of the ordinary shares in the company is not the issue.

“The main issue here is that the ministers have lied to the public when they promised that no public funds will be used and claimed that the company is 100% privately-owned,” he said.

Wee also noted that Khairil did not reveal the conversion ratio for the RCPS into ordinary shares.

“The conversion ratio is important as it could mean the government could end up owning more than 53% of the company,” he said.

The Ayer Hitam MP urged the government to be transparent and say how much in total it has invested in DreamEDGE to date and what will be the total percentage ownership for the government if the RCPS are fully converted.

“Darell had also said that the company will be eligible to apply for government grants,” Wee added.

“Therefore, the government, and not the company, should tell us how much in government grants will be given to the company for this project.”