KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 20 — Public-listed engineering, property and construction company Protasco Bhd has filed an application to cite two of its directors for acting in contempt of court by allegedly interfering with witnesses in a multi-million ringgit lawsuit brought against it.

In a statement today, Protasco accused two of its directors Tey Por Yee and Ooi Kock Aun, as well as their lawyer Gideon Tan, of interfering with a key witness’s evidence in the court case.

Protasco said the star witness and his Indonesian lawyers had already given statutory declarations on the alleged interference, adding that action by the three men amount to “attempts to pervert and/or obstruct the course of justice”.

“On November 18, 2014, Protasco obtained leave of Court to initiate committal proceedings against Tey, Ooi and Gideon Tan, where they must show cause why they should not be fined or committed to imprisonment for contempt of court.

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“The High Court has fixed December 8, 2014 as the date for the High Court to hear the committal proceedings,” the company said in a statement.

Protasco had in September mounted a US$27 million (RM90.87 million) lawsuit against an Indonesian company, PT Anglo Slavic Utama (ASU) to recover its money and against Tey and Ooi for alleged conspiracy to defraud, making secret profits, breaching their fiduciary and statutory duties, and hiding their beneficial interests in the latter.

The hearing for the alleged contempt of court case comes ahead of two different extraordinary general meetings (EGM) by Tey and Ooi and the company’s co-founder Datuk Seri Chong Ket Pen next week.

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After Protasco’s deal to enter the oil and gas business fell apart in August, the lawsuit was filed and a boardroom battle was sparked between Chong and the two directors — where both sides accused the other of wrongfully making profits.

Chong, who is also Prostasco’s group managing director, has called for an EGM on November 26 to persuade other shareholders to remove Tey and Ooi. Tey has called for an EGM scheduled two days later, where he is expected try to persuade shareholders that his allegations against Chong are true.

Tey had apparently brought a deal to Protasco in 2012 to invest in a working oilfield in Aceh. Protasco agreed to acquire a stake in PT ASU’s PT Anglo Slavic Indonesia (PT ASI), which indirectly owned the oilfield.

The deal was renegotiated in 2014, then terminated by Protasco in August 2014. Protasco then sued Tey and Ooi in September for the return of the US$27 million paid to buy the stake in PT ASI and a shareholders’ advance. It has also made police reports against Tey.

In turn, Tey through his vehicle Kingdom Seekers Ventures Sdn Bhd sued Chong, accusing him of siphoning off RM10 million through a group of “Indonesian/foreign entities” to make an illegal financial gain.

Last week, Chong filed his defence to the suit, denying Tey’s claims. He said he had made a personal loan of RM20 million to Tey, of which RM10 million had been repaid. Chong claimed this RM10 million repayment allegedly still owed by Tey is the illegal financial gain the former was accused of making.

According to Chong, these group of foreign entities have made numerous transactions in shares of listed companies linked to Tey — PN17 company Hytex Integrated Bhd, Wintoni Group Bhd (formerly Winsun Technologies Bhd), Asdion Bhd and Tey’s own flagship Nexgram Holdings Bhd (formerly Nextnation Communication Bhd).

In 1997, when the Asian Financial Crisis struck, Protasco had grown to 600 staff and managed to avoid any retrenchments by making pay cuts across the board. The move left the company in a good position to grab projects when the government began its pump-priming programme to revive the Malaysian economy.

Since it was listed in 2003, Protasco has grown further to 1,800 in staff size, with an unbroken profit record and an average of 8 to 10 sen in dividends paid every year.

The company aims to grow between 15 and 20 per cent in profit every year, and, more ambitiously, to join Bursa Malaysia’s billion ringgit market capitalisation club in five years’ time. Protasco’s market capitalisation is currently RM549 million.

The company’s order book has grown to more than RM700 million since Chong took on a full-time executive role in 2013, from less than RM100 million before.