After returning to Malaysia from Singapore, Tony Pua set up an IT company called Cyber Village Sdn Bhd (“CVSB”). Some of the companies that Tony Pua has tangled with in court are companies such Berjaya Group Berhad and Ericsson Business Consultancy (M) Sdn Bhd.
Sometime in 2000, Tony Pua’s company CVSB entered into an agreement with a company called MY2020.Com. The agreement was known as the “Web-Enabled E Procurement Hub Design and Development Agreement dated 26/6/2000” or for short “the E-Hub Agreement”.
Interestingly, MY2020.Com was 55% owned by Berjaya Group Berhad.
Further, MY2020.Com was also 35% owned by MOL.Com Berhad – an investment holding company involved in IT businesses and a related company of Berjaya Group Berhad.
CVSB and Tony Pua were supposed to provide their so-called expertise and know how to design and develop a web site to be the E-Procurement Hub, initially targeted to serve the Berjaya Group of Companies.
Under the agreement, CVSB and Tony Pua would be the provider for the website design and further develop the platform of a fully functional E-Procurement Hub within 14-weeks from the date of signing of the agreement. The total contract sum for the E-Procurement Hub was RM2,595,000.00.
MY2020.Com kept its end of the bargain initially – paying up to 75% of the total contract sum.
MY2020.Com however refused to pay the sum of RM498,750 for the 100% project completion and the retention sum of RM142,500.00.
The reason MY2020.Com refused to pay the monies was that CVSB and Tony Pua had substantially delayed the project by failing to complete the project within the required 14-weeks.
In fact, CVSB and Tony Pua caused a delay of about 1.5 years!!!!!
MY2020.Com issued numerous complaints to CVSB and Tony Pua but these were not answered.
Instead of being responsible and helping MY2020.Com solve problems, CVSB and Tony Pua issued invoices of the amounts outstanding!!!
MY2020.Com refused to pay as the works under the agreement were not completed 100% and the E-Procurement was NOT FUNCTIONING!! There were complaints from users of the hub and users were also withdrawing from CVSB and Tony Pua’s lousy system.
This must be true because surely the Berjaya Group could afford to pay CVSB and Tony Pua if they had actually delivered.
To make matters worse, CVSB and Tony Pua issued ANOTHER INVOICE!!
This invoice was issued for allegedly additional works performed by CVSB and Tony Pua.
If one were to check the notes of proceedings in the trial where CVSB and Tony Pua later tried to sue MY2020.Com’s directors and shareholders personally, it would be evident that CVSB and Tony Pua were not able to justify how the rate of RM800 per day for these additional works was derived.
Shocking but true! This so-called paragon of virtue Tony Pua had apparently come up with arbitrary figures and billed its client for it.
MY2020.Com told CVSB and Tony Pua that these “additional works” or “changes” made were not contractual because they were not agreed upon by MY2020.Com.
Anyway, CVSB and Tony Pua then sued MY2020.Com.
Despite numerous factual disputes and MY2020.Com’s complaints that the E-Procurement Hub system set up by CVSB and Tony Pua was a total failure, CVSB and Tony Pua applied for summary judgment against MY2020.Com.
Despite MY2020.Com’s vehement defences raised, CVSB and Tony Pua managed to somehow win at the High Court.
Clearly this was a wrong decision because everyone knows that when there are many factual disputes, there MUST BE A TRIAL!!!! A party cannot simply get by and win via summary judgment which is only by affidavits.
MY2020.Com then appealed to the Court of Appeal for justice.
But the cowards that are CVSB and Tony Pua sneakily wound-up MY2020.Com before MY2020.Com’s appeal could be heard by the Court of Appeal!
Is this what Tony Pua calls justice???????
Killing a man when he is down???
He should first learn how to stand up and fight all the way instead of killing a person or in this case a Company who was only exercising its unquestionable right of appeal.
The best part about this whole sordid affair is that MY2020.Com had initially engaged experts from Singapore to conceptualise the business plan and advise the company on whether the venture would be successful.
The Singapore experts confirmed that the venture would be successful so long as a competent company created a proper E-Procurement Hub system within 14-weeks.
It is therefore clear that the death of MY2020.Com was not because the Company had a bad business idea. MY2020.Com died because CVSB and Tony Pua had failed to deliver!!!!
So Tony, stop pointing fingers everywhere and look yourself in the mirror first!
If you could not deliver while in business how can you deliver in Government?
In fact, if you were in Government, the Government would spend half its life in court fighting genuine businesses because THAT Tony… is what you do best!
Source: http://stopthelies.my/?p=225
