BUSINESSMAN Lee Kim Yew has again maintained he is far from insolvency, amid charges of bankruptcy. 

The founder and adviser of Country Heights Holdings Bhd said he is not bankrupt despite an existing Adjudication Order and Receiving Order declaring him bankrupt by the High Court in January.

He claimed that one of his former consultants Gerald Patrick Healy, who is a US citizen, had filed a petition against him over the sum of RM3 million allegedly owed to the latter.  

Healy, who has a legal background, is also a former officer of Lee’s US-based Club Excellence Inc, which closed down. 

Lee said since the incident with the company, Healy sought an arbitration order against him.

This, he said, was done without his presence due to existing Covid-19 travel restrictions at that time. 

“Healy worked for me, and we were friends. We could have negotiated amicably but he chose to do this unprofessionally. He could have chosen a better way,” Lee told reporters at a press conference in The Mines Resorts today. 

Yesterday, a picture from the Insolvency Department’s database stated Lee was bankrupt.  

“I have accumulated a lot of tangible and intangible assets. I am solidly solvent,” he said.

Lee said he has written to Putrajaya to allow his lawyer to continue negotiations with Healy to set aside the US court order. 

He said if the issue persists then he will file a statement of affairs to the department’s director-general by depositing RM3 million in case the department has to deal with Healy.  

Lee also said he has stepped down from all company directorships since January 26, and denied reports he was banned from leaving the country. 

“I have no plans to travel for now but I did not receive any travel ban notice,” he said. – April 13, 2023.