Where did the money go? (part 3)

SPECIAL REPORT ON INNOPRISE CORPORATION SDN BHD
Raja Petra Kamarudin

Yayasan Sabah is the cash cow of the Sabah state government and INNOPRISE CORPORATION SDN BHD is the jewel in that crown.

Innoprise Corporation, which is located at Level 13, Wisma Innoprise, Teluk Likas, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, is basically the investment arm of Sabah, holding interests in various companies such as:

INNOPRISE JUNGLE LODGE SDN BHD
INNOPRISE CAPITAL SDN BHD
INNOPRISE HOLDINGS SDN BHD (Already covered in our previous Special Report)
INNOPRISE SYNERGY SDN BHD
INNOPRISE WOOD PRODUCTS SDN BHD
INNOPRISE INTEGRATED TIMBER COMPLEX SDN BHD
INNOPRISE PROPERTIES SDN BHD

Since Innoprise Corporation is supposed to be the pride and joy of the Sabah government, contributing to the coffers of Yayasan Sabah a sizeable amount of money, let us analyse its performance and see how far it has really contributed to what can be regarded as one of the poorest states in Malaysia. And we shall analyse Innoprise Corporation according to the years the various personalities were Sabah’s Chief Minister

22 Apr 1985 - 17 Mar 1994: Joseph Pairin Kitingan

In 1992 and 1993, towards the end of Joseph Pairin Kitingan’s tenure as Sabah’s Chief Minister, Innoprise Corporation made a profit of RM30,454,555 (1992) and RM52,313,972 (1993). When Pairin left office, he left Innoprise Corporation with RM96,465,000 in accumulated profits.

17 Mar 1994 - 27 Dec 1994: Tun Sakaran Dandai

During Sakaran Dandai’s brief tenure as Chief Minister, Innoprise Corporation made a profit of RM85,338,000, thereby boosting its accumulated profit to RM123,019,000. And this was after paying RM25,984,000 in taxation as well as RM33,000,000 as dividends to Yayasan Sabah, mind you, the first and last time it ever did so. If not, the profit would have been even higher. Of course, part of this effort must be credited to Pairin as Sakaran took over at the end of the first quarter of 1994.

27 Dec 1994 - 28 May 1996: Dato Seri Salleh Said Keruak

Then Salleh Said Keruak took over from Sakaran Dandai and, the two years he was Sabah’s Chief Minister, Innoprise Corporation made RM62,987,000 (1995) and RM248,909,000 (1996), the best performance ever.

When Salleh left office, Innoprise Corporation’s accumulated profit spiralled to RM387,915,000, a new Sabah record. And this was after paying taxation of RM19 million and RM28 million over those two years. Salleh had by then appointed Musa Aman as the head of Yayasan Sabah and thereafter he had totally autonomy on the way the affairs of the foundation were run.

28 May 1996 - May 1998: Yong Teck Lee

Then the 1997 and 1998 accounts go ‘missing’, so we do not what happened during Yong Teck Lee’s tenure as Chief Minister. However, the accounts of the following years throw some light on what probably happened.

May 1998 - 14 Mar 1999: Tan Sri Bernard Dompok

By the time Bernard Dompok left office in 1999, the RM387,915,000 left by Salleh in 1996 was no longer there. The accumulated profit was now down to only RM21,591, an almost break-even situation. We can therefore safely assume that as much as approximately RM387,700,000 was somehow lost over the two years of 1997 and 1998, Yong Teck Lee’s tenure as Chief Minister, and with Musa Aman heading Yaysan Sabah.

Is this why the accounts have ‘disappeared’?

14 Mar 1999 - 27 Mar 2001: Datuk Osu Sukam

During Osu Sukam’s tenure as Chief Minister, Innoprise Corporation made a loss of RM183,605 (1999) and RM91,354 (2000). When Osu left office, the company posted an accumulated loss of RM205,913. Innoprise Corporation was now in the red.

27 Mar 2001 - 27 Mar 2003: Datuk Chong Kah Kiat

Chong Kah Kiat managed to turn Innoprise Corporation around in 2001 and it posted a modest profit of RM117,911 that year. Musa Aman had by then been 'removed' as the head of Yayasan Sabah due to his promotion to Finance Minister. In 2002, however, it again made a loss of RM159,286. By the time Kah Kiat left office, Innoprise Corporation posted an accumulated loss of RM247,288.

27 Mar 2003 - present: Datuk Seri Musa Aman

The 2003 and 2004 accounts are not available so we cannot assess how Musa Aman has performed and whether he has since turned Innoprise Corporation around. Has Innoprise Corporation improved or is it still bleeding profusely, maybe worse than before?

In Salleh’s time, Innoprise Corporation had about RM390 million in current assets, RM388 million in fixed assets, RM162 million invested in plantations, RM249 million in timber concessions, RM63 million in associated companies, investments of RM32 million, and reserves of RM479 million.

This is certainly a lot of money. Is it all still there? Or has it all ‘gone away’? In that case, we will need to, again, ask this question:

Where did the money go?

Where did the money go? (part 2)
Where did the money go? (part 1)