S. VELL Paari, the former chief executive officer of MIC-linked Maika Holdings, today said an online report that alleged he bled the company dry was published after an attempt to blackmail him had failed.

Vell Paari, the son of former MIC strongman S. Samy Vellu, said he was contacted by two parties, with one demanding RM3.5 million to stop the article from being published on Sarawak Report.

“In light of this article, it has become crucial for me to state that before the publication of this article, I was contacted by two parties, whose identities I will only reveal to the investigating authorities, one of whom indicated to me that the subject matter of this article could be resolved with a payment of RM3.5 million to him.

“This was clearly an attempt to blackmail me,” Vell Paari said in a statement in response to the February 27 article on Sarawak Report, which claimed it has “exclusively sighted documents” linked to the liquidation of Maika.

“I refused to be blackmailed and hence, the publication of this very article.”

The report said “hundreds of thousands of ringgit were passed in cash payments and payments” to companies connected to Vell Paari between 2003 and 2009.

Vell Paari was appointed CEO of Maika in 1999. Maika, which was supposed to be MIC’s investment arm, was set up by his father in 1983.

The Sarawak Report article also said despite a seven-year investigation into the collapse of the company, which lost savings belonging to some 66,000 shareholders, the authorities have yet to make the investigation public.

Vell Paari, who is MIC secretary-general, said he regarded the article as a “scandalous and frivolous attack” on him.

Vell Paari said when began his duties as Maika CEO, the company was already financially distressed.

He said he then funded the company “from time to time” to enable it to meet its financial obligations.

“When Mika was in funds, they would refund me the monies advanced or for my account.

“As a matter of fact, at the time Mika was wound-up, the company was still indebted to me for a large sum of monies advanced to them and for my unpaid salaries.”

On Sarawak Report alleging that payments were also made to a Perth-based company owned by Vell Paari and his family, OKA Motor Company Limited, and Reumech OMC in South Africa, Paari said the monies were paid “pursuant to an investment arrangement by Maika, which was approved by both, the board of directors as well as the members of Maika at the annual general meeting”.

He said to the best of his knowledge, when the investment arrangement was terminated, the monies were refunded to Maika.

Sarawak Report said OKA received RM1.3 million in nine payments between 1999 and 2000 for the “technology transfer” of a soft-shell version of a 4-wheel drive army vehicle.

A further A$145,301 (RM419,890) was also remitted in 2002, after the termination of the supposed contract with Maika, which Sarawak Report claimed was of no substance in terms of outcomes for the investment.

“I further wish to state that all the shares in Maika have been sold to G Team Resources & Holding Sdn Bhd, and all the documents pertaining to the matters alleged in the article are in the possession of the liquidator of Maika, one Mr Arasu M. Thangaveloo, who I believe is personally involved in a dispute as to his conduct as a liquidator with the contributors of Maika.”

Vell Paari said some documents were also seized by Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) officials and the police between 2005 and 2008, as part of investigations “against several parties, which have since been dismissed”.

He said he would not longer make any further statements on the article as such statements “would be providing a platform to these irresponsible persons to attack me further”. – March 1, 2019.