KUALA LUMPUR, March 5 — Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor denied he had breached a code of ethics for members of the administration that disallowed them from being majority shareholders of companies, arguing that he had already disclosed to the prime minister that he would retain three companies even after becoming part of the federal government.

Tengku Adnan, who had previously said he was a successful businessman before joining the Cabinet in 2001 on Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s request and already owned assets worth over RM938 million then, insisted that he did not breach the code of conduct.

Tengku Adnan was clarifying why he had disagreed this morning with the prosecution’s deputy public prosecutor Julia Ibrahim, who had suggested that he had failed to comply with the code of conduct for members of the administration such as ministers and deputy ministers due to his continued ownership of a majority stake in his company Tadmansori Holdings Sdn Bhd.

“I disagreed with Puan Julia regarding this, that I did not follow the code of ethics as a public servant. The real reason is actually I did mention to the prime minister that I will keep three companies when I was asked to join Cabinet.

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“I kept Tadmansori, Hyundai franchise and another company which is a public-listed company which I have already sold.

“These three companies I told PM then I will keep, and the rest I sold because I wanted to become zero debt,” he said.

Tengku Adnan did not specify which prime minister he had disclosed his intentions to, but he could have been referring to Dr Mahathir as he had first become part of the federal administration as a deputy minister in 2001.

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In listing the shares that he had sold, Tengku Adnan said: “So I sold Mutiara [Swisscom Bhd] which is Digi today. I owned shares in Telekom before, many other companies which I have sold shares either publicly or privately and I kept the holdings of my family company which runs many, many businesses. And also Hyundai which today is known as Sime Darby Hyundai, I have sold interest and I have marginal shares of about 15 per cent Hyundai Sime Darby.

“The other companies I have sold — that’s why I disagree — so I become zero debt so I can concentrate on the job which I have been asked to do. To tell you the truth actually I lost a lot,” he said, before going on to say that he had then sold his stake in Mutiara for only RM480 million which he claimed would be worth RM5 billion now.

Asked by his lawyer Datuk Tan Hock Chuan, Tengku Adnan confirmed that he had disclosed his shares in Tadmansori Holdings in the four written declaration of assets that he had made to three different prime ministers, namely to Dr Mahathir in 2001, Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi in 2006, and Datuk Seri Najib Razak in 2013 and 2016.

Tengku Adnan had made such declarations when he was appointed as a deputy minister in 2001, and as a tourism minister in 2006, and subsequently when appointed in 2013 to the post of federal territories minister which he had continued to hold until May 2018.

Tengku Adnan agreed with Tan that Tadmansori Holdings is a “family-owned” company, after having also agreed that the Companies Commission of Malaysia’s (CCM) records also show his brother as being a shareholder.

What the Code of Ethics says

Earlier this morning, the prosecution had quizzed Tengku Adnan over his involvement in business while serving as a deputy minister and minister.

Pointing out that a CCM search result showed Tadmansori Holdings having Tengku Adnan as its majority shareholder where he owned 99,999,996 shares as of November 24, 2017, the prosecution’s Julia had suggested this was in breach of the code of conduct.

“Basically the members of administration are prohibited from involving themselves in any business ventures in order not to be in conflict with your duties as a member of the administration,” Julia had said when explaining the code of ethics issued by the Prime Minister’s Department for members of the administration.

The prosecution had shown Tengku Adnan the code of conduct’s paragraph 2(iii), which states that members of the administration who are the majority shareholder or who hold the controlling interest in a company are required to sell those shares.

Julia then suggested that Tengku Adnan had not complied with this clause in the code of ethics while in government, due to him remaining a majority shareholder in Tadmansori Holdings as of November 24, 2017, but Tengku Adnan disagreed.

Tengku Adnan concluded his testimony today as a witness in his own defence in his bribery trial over a RM2 million cheque in 2016 from businessman Tan Sri Chai Kin Kong that was deposited into Tadmansori Holdings’ account.

Tengku Adnan has denied that the RM2 million is a bribe but instead claims that it was a political donation meant for Umno’s by-election expenses in 2016, and that he had asked Chai to make out the cheque to Tadmansori Holdings as he had used his own money as advance funds for Umno.

Tengku Adnan’s trial before High Court judge Mohamed Zaini Mazlan will resume on March 25, with March 26 and March 27 also scheduled for trial.

Tan said three defence witnesses will be called to testify in Tengku Adnan’s defence, but has not disclosed their names at this point in time.