KUALA LUMPUR (June 15): Rubber compound manufacturer GIIB Holdings Bhd is embroiled in a second investigation by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) in under one year.

In a filing to Bursa Malaysia on Thursday (June 15), GIIB said its executive chairman Tai Boon Wee and two other executive directors were remanded by the MACC on May 31 for investigations of unlawful activities.

It added that the activities that are being investigated were in relation to issuance of invoice and proceeds banked into GIIB's account, inflation of debts of a subsidiary company in a Bursa Malaysia announcement and unauthorised payments to persons unknown.

GIIB said the two directors were issued with notices requesting them to assist in an ongoing investigation under Section 409 of the Penal Code. GIIB named Tai Qiyao and Wong Ping Kiong as the directors involved in the investigation in a filing earlier on May 31.

“The directors have made it very clear to the investigation officer that they were never involved in any unlawful activities, and the above allegations are malicious, defamatory, baseless and frivolous. The directors categorically and vehemently deny them,” the company stated in the June 15 filing.

Nevertheless, GIIB said the directors are seeking legal advice to assist in this matter as no charges have been filed.

“The company stands by its executive directors to defend themselves against these allegations in the court of law,” it added.

Separately, GIIB in a filing Thursday said the Sessions Court has fixed January 15 to 17, 2024 as trial dates in relation to charges against Tai and Ping Kiong at the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court for an offence related to Section 18 of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Act 2009 (MACC Act 2009).

GIIB said this was an update on its filing dated January 16, on four charges against Ping Kiong and three charges against Tai for the intention to deceive the principal of an auditor, which is Messrs Grant Thornton Malaysia PLT (GT) for the sale of machinery by the issuance of a Debit Note and three Directors' Circular Resolutions.

The transaction is related to one of the suspicious transactions alleged by former executive director Wong Weng Yew.

The MACC remanded Tai and Ping Kiong on Sept 7, 2022 for investigation. Upon recommendation by the Audit and Risk Management Committee (ARMC) of the company, the company commissioned an independent forensic audit which cleared the directors and the company of fraud and wrongdoing.

Weng Yew was the executive director in charge of the finance and glove projects of the company, and was dismissed for misconduct prior to the investigation. He was subsequently redesignated as non-executive director following his dismissal.

After cooperating with the MACC during the remand, there was no further inquiry into the company and directors until a notice to be present at the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court was served to Tai and Ping Kiong on January 12, 2023.

Notably, the January 16 filing by the company was a response to The Edge’s report on the two top GIIB officials, who pleaded not guilty in the Sessions Court for allegedly furnishing fake documents to auditor GT in relation to the sale of RM2.95 million worth of machinery that did not exist.

The company’s shares closed unchanged at 9.5 sen, valuing GIIB at RM56.17 million.

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Top GIIB officials charged with furnishing fake documents to auditor