Dubious past and present of Datasonic

There is a message that has gone viral to remind friends to change to the new Identity Card number to enable them to get field subsidy:

Utk makluman kwn.....sesiapa yg belum tukar ic baru yg ada 2 gambar dlm ic tu....di minta tukar segera....ini utk membolehkan kita beli petrol kete mulai sept 2014 dgn harga subsidi....jika tak....kene beli petrol dgn harga tanpa subsidi.....sumber dr JPN....Mesej perkhidmatan awam daripada SUIT

Sila forward kan kepada keluarga anda, rakan-rakan dan orang tersayang.

The message is not true but the belief is strong that Fuelsub House Sdn Bhd and Dataonic Berhad consortium ("Datasonic consortium") will get the fuel card contract.

If the message is true, there is no need to change MyKad because their plan is issue another card for more money obviously  and Pos Malaysia is their partner to get it deliver to all "qualified" Malaysians for more money, off course.

The nature of the fuel card plan is suspect and mired with many dubious past and present relating to Datasonic and the consortium.

Be warned

First of all, there is a newpaper report to deny the viral message on Harian Metro:

Didn't we say, a new fuel card will be issued?

Please do not say our MyKad cannot be used because attempts to link it with Banks failed. One Bank Negara source told us the reason it happened was the Bank had to follow a certain international certification but for that, MyKad refuse to reveal certain information on their system for international certification.   

One former GM of a card company said, MyKad can be used.

Now, we will not repeat the fact that the fuel card will only lead to widespread abuse and leakage.

Neither are we to repeat of the many dubious ways the intention to introduce the fuel card system for September 1st was unfold using scripts such as raids by KPDNKK and joint taskforce, initially hush hush, then  transparent and later private meeting, and the 70% owners of the consortium.  

Nor are we to plea again for the leakage, smuggling activities and syndicate, which became became widespread few years ago due to civil servant negligence and collusion, be addressed first before instituting these measures with suspected of self serving intention.

One can read it here, here and here.

No point to plea to those with intentions to make money at public expense and are too obsess with neo-liberalism without considering the political implication to their own ruling political party. We will be the first to say "Padan muka!" should they not heed our warnings.

In a matter of time, they will pay some country bumpkins to defend their action on the social media with argument similar to defending Dato Nazir Tun Abdul Razak appointment as member of the Board of Director of Khazanah and anticipated to replace Tan Sri Azman Mokhtar is good because he is educated and CIMB made money.

We will just have to be aloof and talk to the "thinking" crowd.

Being under the weather on weekend, it enable us to do a bit of research and many dubious past and present of Datasonic was uncovered. There will be those getting unnecessarily implicated but we intend to present it as it is.

They can use their army of paid bumpkins to defend them.

Suspicious

Another indication that these people will get the fuel card contract it lies in a research paper by Phillips Capital Management dated May 15, 2014:

It's too small to read so we highlight the following:

The fuel card contract will be just great to keep Datasonic stock going. The stock price had a phenomenal rise since listing in 2012 from the benefit of MyKad contract they secured by beating the original architect of MyKad, Iris Technology Berhad.

Iris thought they can win back the contract in 2014 but it was never meant to be:

Why?

Don't tell us they have more superior management or technological capacity or whatever dog shit analyst will tell you to justify to continue buying the stock even though it has risen from below 50 sen in May 2013 to more than RM4.50 with 2014 PER above 23.

The analyst may have been tipped off. Otherwise, only idiot apek pakai terompah would buy shares with earning that takes ore than 23 years to get back money. Dividend would be longer. They recommend buy because forecasted PER for 2015 and so on is lower.

When the Datasonic consortium, Fuel Subs House Sdn Bhd comprise of 30% Datasonic Bhd, 70% shared among Innovative Associate, E&Y, Razali Naina Merican, Dato Habibur Rahman and two Chongs, Steven dan Chua, one have to dig deeper beyond Dato Reezal Naina Merican and Dato Abbu Hanifah are linked in this company here.

Something must be cooking when major shareholder and Managing Director, Dato Abu Hanifah Noordin or in some reports, his name reads as Dato Dr Abu Hanifah Nordin, sold his shares to his  Chinese Deputy Managing Director.

We do not have space to explain the legal and corporate implication in the positions of Chairman, Managing Director and Deputy Managing Director but Focus Malaysia reported on June 4th below:

ICT solution player Datasonic Group Bhd’s largest shareholder Dibena Enterprise Sdn Bhd entered into a direct business transaction to sell 130 million shares on May 30. The shares were sold to two private companies – Enrich Epitome Sdn Bhd and Gerbang Subur Sdn Bhd.

Both Enrich Epitome and Gerbang Subur acquired 65 million shares each at RM3.33 per share. Dibena Enterprise and Gerbang Subur are both linked to Datasonic’s MD, Datuk Abu Hanifah Noordin. Enrich Epitome is linked to Datasonic’s deputy MD Chew Ben Ben. After the acquisition, Abu Hanifah owns a 15.49% direct interest and a further 24.54% indirect interest in Datasonic. Chew has a 12.64% direct stake and 9.88% indirect stake in the company.

Datasonic also recently secured a RM292.2 mil contract from the Ministry of Home Affairs for the supply of MyKad.

Why should Abu Hanifah sell off of a major block of his shares to Chew Ben Ben when he has just secured and is securing another major contract? And forecasted PER is cheap?

We do not have the answer but let's just see if Abu Hanifah will remain as major shareholder or a China man would take over the company after the shares spike further.

Dubious past

It is time now to dig up on Abu Hanifah.

His resume only tells his professional side as a public accountant. The one on the company website is too clinically clean. As businessman, why the desire to wipe out his footprints. Any businessman will have dirt, especially those capable of securing major government contracts one after another.

A quick google revealed his name surfaced as Dato Dr Abu Hanifah Nordin in a corruption court case in 1997-1998 against former Selangor exco in Menter Besar (now PAS) Tan Sri Muhammad Muhammad Taib adminstration, Dato Saidin Tamby.

As former Executive Chairman of a development company, Syarikat Nusantara Network Sdn Bhd., Abu Hanifah went to Saidin's infamously known to be robbed home to deliver a RM1 million bribe. Saidin was found guilty and supposed to serve 1 year prison and fines. [Read in Wikipedia here]

Was justice done? Not quite.

Such is the legal process in a corruption case, only one of the guilty parties; receiver or giver of bribe will be charged.

In this case, the equally corrupt giver, Abu Hanifah went away scot free.

A snippet of a past newspaper cutting reads:

24/02/2000

Defence counsel to show mala fide in charge against Saidin

SHAH ALAM, Wed. - The corruption charge against Datuk Saidin Thamby was brought about by pressure on the Anti-Corruption Agency, the Sessions Court heard today.

Counsel Muhammad Shafee Abdullah said the defence would show why there was mala fide in the charge against the former Paya Jaras State Assemblyman.

He said this when explaining to judge Suraya Othman on the question he posed to witness Datuk Dr Abu Hanifah Noordin, who is a public accountant.

Counsel had asked Abu Hanifah whether his name had appeared in the "crony list" of Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim revealed by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Datuk Mohd Zaki Mohd Yasin had objected to the question.

Read on here.

The delivery was made before the Selayang UMNO Division election. An Utusan Malaysia column in early 1998 revealed Abu Hanifah political side and there maybe some truth to Shafee Abdullah's question in court.

MENOLEH ke bahagian jirannya pula di Selayang, kaum kerabat nampak sudah timbul juga sedikit gelora. Menurut ceritanya, AJK bahagian tidak lama dulu sudah pun bersetuju untuk mengekalkan status quo yang ada. Namun tidak lama kemudian timbul cerita Datuk Abu Hanifah Nordin yang tewas kepada Datuk Ahmad Bhari untuk jawatan Timbalan Ketua Bahagian dalam pemilihan yang lalu, hendak mencuba lagi kali ini. Inilah khabarnya yang mencetuskan gelora, sebab yang lain-lain pun mula nak cuba sama.

Pada mulanya kaum kerabat cuma dengar sosek-sosek sahaja.

Kononnya, Ketua Pemuda yang ada sekarang, Suhaimi Abdul Rahman sudah mula bergerak. Khabarnya cuba-cuba untuk menuju ke jawatan Ketua Bahagian yang sekarang dipegang oleh Datuk Saidin Tambi. Demikian juga dengan Naib Ketuanya, Sulaiman Samad.

Read in full here.

The politically savvy can interpret.

Abu Hanifah was carrying Dato Seri Anwar Ibrahim torch all the way to Majlis Tertinggi UMNO but lost in 1996. [Read in Nur Jazlan.net here.] That year was the year Anwar was going to topple Tun Dr Mahathir if not for his bum bashing past.

In 2009, the Shah Alam High Court acquited Saidin based on the evidence presented at the Session Court that Anwar was behind in framing him. [Read The Star here].

Mat Maslan?

In the court case against Saidin, the court document here revealed below:

 
If Mohd Maslan is current Deputy Finance Minister, Dato Ahmad Maslan, then it shed a bad light on Datasonic. As Deputy Minister, he denied the rumours thus presumably has knowledge of this contract.

One Director of Datasonic is his friend or comrade in a certain organisation. He is Dato Aziz Jamaluddin. God forbid he is not there as proxy because he is a good man, Chairman of Masjid Kg Baru, and former BN candidate for Titiwang Parliament that lost to the late Dr Lo' Lo' Ghazali.

Mat Maslan was at the launch of prospectus for the listing of Datasonic in 2012. [Read in Malaysian Reserve here]

Although Mat Maslan is in Dato Najib's team these days, back in reformasi days, he was a BTN officer and used BTN photocopy machine to photostat reformasi pamphlets. The associations are there thus there must not be any mystery and suspicion of collusion in the contract.

We will tell it as it is because our consideration is not just party politics but foremost is the rakyat well being and national security.

Security matters

An important question of security matter on Datasonic:

Does the company actually manufacture our MyKad?

Browsing through their latest available Annual Report here, it strange that they do not attempt to show-off their manufacturing plant printing the MyKad.

The company business activities masked as strategy only state their activities are in delivering, solution and integrating, research and development, marketing and some mumbo jumbo on human resource development to make the list long.

But no manufacturing. The financial accounts and asset list hardly tells anything.

There is mention of warehouse and Manufacturing and Quality Control team but is our MyKad manufactured there?

Someone need to explain precisely, particularly the NST reporter who wrote this report here, what do they mean by:

Providing cutting-edge innovation and technologies, Datasonic seeks out technology transfers through strategic partnerships with global industry players from the United States, China, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Singapore and Switzerland.

Is our MyKad being printed in the US, China and Singapore?