Ann Joo, Wah Seong, AISB confirm customs’ raid

by **Cals** Tue 01 Mar 2016, 18:31

Ann Joo, Wah Seong, AISB confirm customs’ raid

By Chester Tay / The Edge Financial Daily | March 1, 2016 : 9:51 AM MYT

This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on March 1, 2016.

KUALA LUMPUR: Ann Joo Resources Bhd, together with Wah Seong Corp Bhd and Amalgamated Industrial Steel Bhd (AISB), have all been visited by the Royal Malaysian Customs, with certain shipping and accounting records relating to the importation of hot-rolled coils (HRC) taken into custody.

In a filing with Bursa Malaysia yesterday, Ann Joo said the documents that were taken belong to its subsidiaries, namely Ann Joo Metal Sdn Bhd (AJM), Anshin Steel Service Centre Sdn Bhd (ASSC) and Anshin Steel Processor Sdn Bhd (ASP), during the raid last Wednesday.

“The purpose of [the] audit and investigation was not officially informed by the customs. None of the accounts of AJM, ASSC and ASP has been frozen by the customs,” it said, adding that the documents taken do not affect the operations of the group, and that there will be no financial impact either.

Similarly, Wah Seong said its indirect wholly-owned subsidiary PPI Industries Sdn Bhd was subjected to audit visits conducted by the customs, the Royal Malaysia Police, the finance ministry and the Attorney-General’s Chambers of Malaysia last Tuesday.

The audit was conducted at PPI’s business premises in Penang, which saw the customs taking custody of certain records and documents, and temporarily freezing some of PPI’s bank accounts to facilitate the audit and investigation.

However, Wah Seong assured that PPI’s business operation is ongoing as usual, and that the audit and investigation by the customs do not have any material implication on the financials and operations of PPI, or on the group, as a whole.

Meanwhile, AISB said the customs visited its premises to conduct the audit for two hours last Wednesday, after which it took custody of certain documents pertaining to two importations of HRC for further verification. As no bank account is frozen, its business operations will not be materially affected, AISB added.

Hiap Teck Venture Bhd was the first to announce last week that the customs had taken custody of certain documents of two of its subsidiaries, and frozen the bank account of one of the two “for purposes of audits and investigation”.

Yesterday, The Edge Financial Daily reported that the Malaysian Iron and Steel Industry Federation had lodged a complaint with the finance ministry on concerns raised by its members regarding the industry-wide audit last week that was conducted in a high-handed manner.