The Elegant Advisory saga: A recap
Published: Aug 11, 2008 6:54 AM | Updated: Aug 12, 2008 5:45 AM
Poll merchandise firm Elegant Advisory Sdn Bhd was set up as a RM9 company two years before the March 2004 general election and owned by a man called Hasan Ayuob.
Poll merchandise firm Elegant Advisory Sdn Bhd was set up as a RM9 company two years before the March 2004 general election and owned by a man called Hasan Ayuob.
Little is known about Hasan, a shadowy deal-maker who often introduced himself as a ‘datuk’ and is fond of talking about his close links with top figures in government.
Elegant Advisory began negotiating with potential poll merchandise suppliers - some of which are the country’s top printers - in late 2003 on the supposedly ‘lucrative government contract’.
According to the suppliers, Hasan said he was backed by an ‘influential’ Umno politician, who had been tasked to raise funds from BN-linked tycoons and companies for the polls.
When Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi called a snap general election in March 2004, Hasan ‘awarded’ contracts worth millions of ringgit to scores of companies.
To clinch the deal, these companies paid RM15,000 each to Elegant Advisory - a normal practice according to those involved in the procurement - with the intention of securing the ‘government’ contract in return.
A source has told Malaysiakini at the time that Elegant Advisory had signed up approximately 70 companies for the Barisan Nasional project, thus making about RM1 million from the ‘entry fees’ alone.
Having paid the fees, these 70-odd ‘main contractors’ in turn parceled out part of the contracts to minor suppliers including those from overseas - for orders which they could not meet themselves - in return for some commission.
PM denies Umno’s link
After the 2004 elections, the contractors were shocked when they found that Elegant Advisory could not meet the payments despite having delivered the campaign materials.
After the scandal was exposed by Malaysiakini, Hasan claimed he was an innocent party and that he had been sacked by Elegant Advisory.
The businessman blamed the company’s executives for placing the orders even before Elegant Advisory held any negotiations with the state Umno and BN liaison committees on the matter.
The unpaid contractors turned to Abdullah, who however reportedly denied that his coalition was involved in the multi-million-ringgit deal. He advised the complainants to instead resolve the matter with those who had directly made the purchase orders.
However, Umno’s Johor Baru MP Shahrir Abdul Samad - who is now the domestic trade and consumer affairs minister - confirmed that he did receive Elegant Advisory’s election posters ‘for free’.
Two weeks after the matter was highlighted by Malaysiakini, Elegant Advisory ‘absconded’ from its shoe-box office in Setapak, about 5km north of Kuala Lumpur.
According to the recent court documents, the company is now based in Kelana Jaya and the key person-in-charge is one Samsudin Ibrahim, the company’s executive director.
Related reports
Little is known about Hasan, a shadowy deal-maker who often introduced himself as a ‘datuk’ and is fond of talking about his close links with top figures in government.
Elegant Advisory began negotiating with potential poll merchandise suppliers - some of which are the country’s top printers - in late 2003 on the supposedly ‘lucrative government contract’.
According to the suppliers, Hasan said he was backed by an ‘influential’ Umno politician, who had been tasked to raise funds from BN-linked tycoons and companies for the polls.
When Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi called a snap general election in March 2004, Hasan ‘awarded’ contracts worth millions of ringgit to scores of companies.To clinch the deal, these companies paid RM15,000 each to Elegant Advisory - a normal practice according to those involved in the procurement - with the intention of securing the ‘government’ contract in return.
A source has told Malaysiakini at the time that Elegant Advisory had signed up approximately 70 companies for the Barisan Nasional project, thus making about RM1 million from the ‘entry fees’ alone.
Having paid the fees, these 70-odd ‘main contractors’ in turn parceled out part of the contracts to minor suppliers including those from overseas - for orders which they could not meet themselves - in return for some commission.
PM denies Umno’s link
After the 2004 elections, the contractors were shocked when they found that Elegant Advisory could not meet the payments despite having delivered the campaign materials.
After the scandal was exposed by Malaysiakini, Hasan claimed he was an innocent party and that he had been sacked by Elegant Advisory.
The businessman blamed the company’s executives for placing the orders even before Elegant Advisory held any negotiations with the state Umno and BN liaison committees on the matter.
The unpaid contractors turned to Abdullah, who however reportedly denied that his coalition was involved in the multi-million-ringgit deal. He advised the complainants to instead resolve the matter with those who had directly made the purchase orders.
However, Umno’s Johor Baru MP Shahrir Abdul Samad - who is now the domestic trade and consumer affairs minister - confirmed that he did receive Elegant Advisory’s election posters ‘for free’.
Two weeks after the matter was highlighted by Malaysiakini, Elegant Advisory ‘absconded’ from its shoe-box office in Setapak, about 5km north of Kuala Lumpur.
According to the recent court documents, the company is now based in Kelana Jaya and the key person-in-charge is one Samsudin Ibrahim, the company’s executive director.
Related reports
BN owes us RM100m for poll merchandise, claim firms
Umno stalwart confirms receiving ‘donated' posters
Scandal tainted BN posters surface in Kuala Berang
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