SHAH ALAM, Feb 14 — Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim has confirmed that he reached an out-of-court settlement with Bank Islam Malaysia Berhad (BIMB) over a US$18.52 million (RM66.67 million) loan settlement suit, without compromising PKR or the PR coalition.
“Both parties have agreed to an out-of-court settlement. It has already been established,” the Selangor mentri besar told The Malay Mail Online in an interview at his office yesterday.
He declined to give further details but it is understood that the settlement was for an amount much lower than RM66.67 million.
“Both parties have agreed for it (the settlement) to not be in public discussion,” the Selangor mentri besar told The Malay Mail Online in an interview at his office yesterday.
Khalid had originally filed the suit against BIMB on May 18, 2007, claiming that the bank had wrongly disposed of his shares in Guthrie Berhad which he acquired through an Al-Bai Bithaman Ajil (BBA) loan facility on April 30, 2001 when he was Guthrie’s chief executive officer.
He had also sought a declaration that a collateral contract existed between him and the bank relating to the facility.
The bank, in its counter-suit, demanded the return of RM66.67 million, claiming that Abdul Khalid had breached its contract in the BBA loan facility following his failure to repay the loan. The two cases were eventually consolidated into one.
Khalid has also denied compromising PKR and Pakatan Rakyat (PR) by agreeing to the settlement, which he called a “personal matter.”
The suit raised a key issue of whether the civil court had the authority to decide on Shariah-related aspects of the case.
BIMB argued that the matter should be referred to the Shariah Advisory Council of Bank Negara.
It is understood that the case was due to be heard at the Federal Court on Tuesday but had been pre empted by the out of court settlement.
Bank Islam Malaysia is a wholly-owned unit of BIMB Holdings Bhd (BHB), whose majority shareholder is the national pilgrims’ management fund Lembaga Urusan Tabung Haji (LUTH) with a 54 per cent stake. The other shareholders are the government-linked Employees Provident Fund, Permodalan Nasional Bhd and Amanah Saham Bumiputera.
