KUALA LUMPUR (May 17): ACE Holdings Bhd on Wednesday (May 17) opposed the Federal Land Development Authority (Felda) and Koperasi Permodalan Felda’s intervener application in the company’s judicial management application.

However, ACE Holdings did not object to Koperasi Kakitangan Lembaga Penduduk dan Pembangunan Keluarga Negara (LPPKN), oil and gas company Eng3nium Sdn Bhd and one Azyan Mohd Ali’s application to intervene in the matter.

Datuk Seri Rajan Navaratnam, representing ACE Holdings, told the High Court (commercial division) that they are not objecting to LPPKN, along with Azyan and Eng3nium's application to intervene.

“However, ACE Holdings is objecting Felda and Koperasi Permodalan Felda’s application to intervene as they are not creditors per se,” Rajan told High Court judge Ahmad Murad Abdul Aziz in online proceedings.

Besides this, ACE Holdings indicated it needs time to consider other applications made by individuals and other companies who wish to intervene in the company’s judicial management application.

Following that, Ahmad Murad fixed June 13 for possible decision on the rest of the parties’ intervener application and directed ACE Holdings to file its written submission should it oppose their intervener application or respond whether it is agreeable for them to intervene.

Previously, it was reported that a group of investors, mostly in Penang, are suing ACE Holdings for RM10 million, while another investor, who wished to remain unnamed, is suing ACE Credit for RM8.3 million.

Both have applied to intervene in the JM proceedings, but this was objected to by Rajan.

Nicholas Poon appeared for LPPKN while Jason Cheong appeared for Koperasi Permodalan Felda and Felda.

ACE Holdings, which had previously been reported to face action from the Securities Commission, had on March 13 filed to be placed under judicial management. It is seeking for Datuk Robert Teo Keng Tuan from RSM Corporate Restructuring (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd to be appointed as its judicial manager.

Judicial management is a corporate rescue mechanism, where companies apply with the High Court to appoint a judicial manager for them when they are unable to pay their debts, creditors or directors.

It was reported that Koperasi Permodalan Felda had applied to intervene in ACE Holdings’ JM. This follows a Mareva injunction against ACE Holdings, which was obtained by them earlier this year, to freeze RM40 million held by the company's assets, following three investment agreements which promised the cooperatives a return of 18% to 20%.

Koperasi Permodalan Felda claimed that ACE Holdings’ subsidiary ACE Credit Sdn Bhd was late for several months with the payment of their 2021 investment returns, despite the cooperatives repeatedly chasing for the payment that was supposed to be made within 14 days from Dec 31.

The 2021 returns were only paid on March 28. ACE Credit then failed to pay the returns for the first half of 2022 under the third agreement, which was supposed to be made semi-annually.

Although it initially asked for more time to make the payment, even as Koperasi Permodalan Felda chased for the returns, ACE Credit later told the cooperatives, via a lawyer's letter, that the third agreement was only a money-lending agreement, and not an investment agreement, which the cooperatives vehemently denied.

Read also:
ACE Holdings applies for judicial management
ACE Holdings’ legal woes grow with new RM10 mil suit filed by 27 investors
Lawsuits mount at ACE Holdings as another investor sues for RM8.3 mil