Tuesday, July 31, 2007

ANDAMAN GROUP IS MEDA GROUP - sama sama

Andaman group in Kalimantan coal mining foray
May 4 2007 Business Times

THE Andaman group, a privately-held entity, is investing up to RM30 million with a partner to buy the controlling rights for two coal mining concessions in East Kalimantan of Indonesia.

Andaman group is controlled by Datuk Dr Patrick Teoh's family, which is also the major shareholder in main board companies EcoFirst Consolidated Bhd, Meda Inc Bhd and SEG International Bhd.

The group signed an agreement yesterday to buy the two mines that collectively cover 9,952 ha with a concession period of 25 years.

"Coal mining is the perfect diversification opportunity for us. Another main reason why we are
doing this is that we have a good partner. The Indonesian group is wellrespected in Kalimantan," Teoh, who is chairman of the Andaman group, said during the signing ceremony in Subang Jaya.

The mines, located in Kebapatan Kutai Kartanagara and Kebapatan Berau, Kalimantan, are owned by PT Putra Dewa Jaya and PT Putra Bara Jaya respectively.

Upon completion of the acquisition, 40 per cent of the coal mining concession will be retained by the Indonesian partners. The balance 60 per cent will be vested in Andaman's subsidiary, Andaman Reseources Sdn Bhd, which in turn is 55 per cent owned by Andaman and 45 per cent owned by its Bumiputera partner.

With a combined proven coal reserve of more than 70 million cubic metres, these mines are set to be operational in two months.

Teoh said the Kutai mine produces higher quality coal which are suitable for use as coking coal in steel mills, while the Berau mine produces medium quality steaming coal that are used for power generation.

He said the initial production is expected at 50,000 tonne per month for each mine and the group plans to raise the production volume to 200,000 tonne each per month within a year.

More investments may be needed when the production volume is raised, he said, but the group expects to cover any additional investment through the sale of coal productions.

He said the venture is expected to contribute 30 per cent to Andaman group's net earnings, but declined to reveal the group's financial detail since it is a private entity.

Because of the attractive prospect, Teoh said the group and its Indonesia
partner are already in the process of buying a third coal mine in Indonesia.

In future, we may inject these coal mines into any of our public-listed companies (plcs), or the plcs may even buy other new mines directly from the Indonesian government. We don't discount any possibility," Teoh said.
How did ANDAMAN GROUP SDN BHD come about?
Who's the REAL power behind all that's happening in Meda Inc Bhd?
Is Meda Inc Bhd doomed?

On 10th Nov 2006, I mentioned about their grand plan to let Meda Inc Bhd sink under heavy debt, together with the lenders, suppliers and others to whom Meda owes money. And their sneaky scheme to put up their new company Andaman Group for listing on the Bursa.

"A Friend" wrote in to give us a closer look at the hanky-panky in Meda Inc Bhd..."Dear Wendy....you were wrong on one count. The Cova project does not come under the Meda Group, so the sales do not goes to Meda. Most probably you do not know the history of the Andaman Group.

Let me set the record straight for you.Basically Meda went public because they need funds to expand. Meda have been listed on the main board for more than five years and with the funds from the listing you would expect the company to have expanded and have more projects.

If you look deeper the company have no new projects at all. The current projects are the very SAME projects that they have when they got listed.

So one would think that the management of Meda and the Directors are sitting on their fat butts doing nothing as there were no new projects. ON THE CONTRARY. TEOH SENG AUN HAVE BEEN VERY BUSY USING THE RESOURCES OF MEDA TO IDENTIFY NEW PROJECTS. The marketing and project department of Meda have been scouring around for viable projects and they have identified two such projects namely One Subang and the Cova, Kota Damansara.

But instead of injecting these projects into Meda he took it private.He formed the ANDAMAN GROUP using his brothers in law as a front. The brothers in law are Alex Wong, William Wong and Joshua Wong. In fact he is grooming Alex Wong to head the group. He went further to ensure the Cova project is a success by entering into an agreement with SEGi to rent the apartments from them so that the company can provide guaranteed returns to the purchasers.

The question here is why Teoh Seng Aun(TSA) did not inject the projects into Meda. IT IS VERY SIMPLE. HE WANTS TO ENRICH HIMSELF FURTHER AND HIS FAMILY TOO.It was also rumored that TSA siphoned RM8 million from Meda to form the Group and till today have not repaid the money back to Meda.In fact the Cova project was obtained through the contacts of Ong Bok Siong who is very close to the people in PKNS or PNSB.

So why is Ong Bok Siong allowing TSA to take the project private instead of injecting into Meda? Has Ong Bok Siong no loyalty to Meda which is paying his fat salary and giving him a luxurious car and a driver? Is he not responsible to the minority shareholders who expect him to perform his duties?

Now we have to ask the other question on what will the authorities do to the Board of Directors of Meda who sit back and allowed TSA to abuse his power as the majority shareholder to misuse the resources of Meda to enrich himself instead of resolving the financial problems of the company?.

Are the Directors not guilty of dereliction of duty? What about TSA? As the major shareholder, does he have the authority to determine the direction of the company? What business have he to manage the company? Are all the Directors just figureheads?The authorities would want to have evidence to investigate Meda.

The evidence are actually there for everyone to see, the abuse of power and the arrogance of Teoh Seng Aun, who thinks he can get away with it and that the authorities are IMPOTENT. Actually the MOTHER of all arrogance of TSA is to have the Andaman Group located on the 18th Floor of Menara Summit, which was the Directors' floor of the Meda and KEB group where at one time ALL the Directors were located. WHY? Because TSA sits on that floor and he wants his pivate company to be located there so HE CAN OVERSEE ITS OPERATIONS.

Next are the transfer of KEY PERSONNEL FROM MEDA. Robert You the COO was formerly with Salcon under Kumpulan Emas, so he cannot be counted. What about the Director of Project Charanjeet Singh who was formerly the Senior General Manager - Project of Meda. Then there is the Senior Manager - Marketing Lau Hon Chong who holds the same position with Meda. The Sales and Administration Manager, Iris Chai, was formerly the Assistant Sales and Administration Manager of Meda. Isn't the transfer of these key personnels a sure sign of abuse of the public listed company?

The final question to be asked is WHAT ARE TEOH SENG AUN'S PLANS FOR MEDA? NOTHING!!!!!.

Meda is too heavily in debt to a tune of more than RM200 million to be able to save. He will allow Meda to die a slow and painful death. Meanwhile he has formed the Andaman Group and he has grand plans for the group. He is talking about a billon dollar JV in China and more exciting projects. Then he WILL LIST the Group again. DEJA' VU?"

Wendy says:"It will be the same story all over again. Just like Kumpulan Emas (EcoFirst) before, Meda Inc Bhd now and Andaman Group in the future."Here's the news report about the RM1billion JV in China. The Andaman Group is owned and managed by the same people who ran Meda Inc Bhd to the ground and sold away Meda's assets. Now, they put all the ill-gotten funds into the RM1Billion project in China. The Directors should be taken to court for dereliction of their duties, professional negligence and possibly even conspiracy to defraud minority shareholders...







See the 2 gentlemen on the left?

KH You, formerly COO of Salcon, which was under Kumpulan Emas, which is owned by the Teoh brothers. Second from left: Lau Hon Chung (Snr Sales n Marketing Manager from Meda, now moved over to Andaman. Same people, different companies, same owners). Photo was taken from here.

Andaman Group Is Another Con Job

Having run Meda Inc Bhd into the ground with heavy debts, cheating the public and suppliers of their money, now the owners of this notorious PLC is pouring all their energies and funds into the ANDAMAN GROUP.

SAME ROTTEN PEOPLE OPERATING UNDER ANOTHER COMPANY

I create this blog so that those people who want to know more about the ANDAMAN GROUP will be able to see for themelves their true track record here.

This blog will be linked to my WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT MEDA INC BHD blog so that you can read all about their notorious activities and reputation there. It's the same people doing the same dirty things under a different company.

So, if you are thinking of selling them anything, or buying any of their properties, good luck to you. I am doing you a favour by telling you all about them in the other blog so that you know what to do to avoid losing your money.