Air cargo carrier Transmile Group Bhd, which is facing investigations by the Malaysian authorities over an accounting scandal, said its accounts were hit worse than expected and had slashed its market value by half, Malaysian Business Times reported.
The paper also reported that Transmile Group Bhd’s founder and chief executive offi cer, Gan Boon Aun, had relinquished his post voluntarily with immediate effect following the recent disclosure of irregularities in the company’s accounts.
Three other Transmile directors resigned from the company last month. The three, Chin Keem Feung, Shukri Sheikh Abdul Tawab and Khiudin Mohd @ Bidin, also formed the audit committee, the company said in statements to Bursa Malaysia.
Transmile said that its board of directors has lodged a report with the police and the Securities Commission – based on advice from its legal counsel – over the false statements and documents in relation to its revenue, property, plant and equipment and payments to third parties as reported in audit by Moores Rowland Risk Management Sdn Bhd.
The audit revealed that there were no supporting payment vouchers for invoices totalling RM333 million during the year-ended December 2006, and for invoices totalling RM197 million during the year-ended December 2005. These invoices relate to services to twenty companies in 2006 and nineteen companies in 2005. Thus the company’s previously reported pre-tax profi ts will be reduced from RM207 million to a loss of RM126 million for the year-ended December 2006, and from RM120 million to a loss of RM77 million for the year-ended December 2005.
But Transmile, whose shareholders are led by Malaysia’s richest man Tan Sri Robert Kuok, remained silent on whether it will take action against those responsible. An analyst who declined to be named said it appears that there was a deliberate attempt to manipulate the account with a plan to deceive the board or shareholders.
Transmile investors have asked the authorities to take tough action against those who helped cook the books of Transmile Group Bhd. They also want them to examine the role of external auditors and whether they have performed their duties well in scrutinising the numbers. Transmile works with international integrators such as DHL Worldwide Express to provide express air services.
