Fountain View of Shame

Saw this on theEdge

Fountain View defaults on principal, coupon payment totalling RM81.7m
By Gan Yen Kuan, 03 Nov 2006 8:57 PM

Fountain View Development Bhd (FVDB) said it had defaulted on the coupon payment and redemption of its loan stocks totalling RM81.71 million due on Nov 3.

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Some issues not to be forgotten.

Friday may 13, 2005

The Selangor Turf Club's purchase of four million shares in a property company was in keeping with the club's constitution, according to a speech by the club's chairman, Tunku Datuk Seri Shahabuddin Tunku Besar Burhanuddin.
In his address at the Turf Club's AGM yesterday, Tunku Shahabuddin said the Turf Club invested RM20mil, or RM5 a share, in Fountain View Development Bhd.
The investment was made after careful research, with legal and financial advice, and was expected to provide an annual return on investment of over 10% a year

May 19th 2005

SC begins probe into Fountain View trades
By SHAHRIMAN JOHARI
THE Securities Commission (SC) has launched its probe into disruptive stock market price movements by delving into dealings involving Fountain View Development Bhd shares.

The securities industry watchdog wants to talk to dealers who have traded substantial amounts of shares of the property developer which have since crashed, senior stockbroking executives said.

The SC visited two stockbroking firms on Monday, looking for a dealer who is alleged to be the “mastermind” behind the unusual trading of Fountain View shares.

And not to be forgotten...

Auditors identify RM400m deals that made Plantation & Development insolvent
By MAISARA ISMAIL
NDEPENDENT auditors of Fountain View Development Bhd, formerly Plantation & Development (Malaysia) Bhd (P&D), identified some RM400 million worth of transactions made between 1997 to 2001 that left the group practically insolvent.

The findings were included in an investigative audit report, issued by the new management at P&D to fulfil Securities Commission’s (SC) requirement.

P&D, a Practice Note 4 company before it was restructured and bought over by Fountain View, racked up RM450.2 million losses from 1997 to 2001.

The selldown was a huge issue back in 2005.

Cover Story: Low-down on the selldown
Stories by Lim Ai Leen & Risen Jayaseelan

Of the 34 brokers in town, at least 30 were hit when Fountain View Development Bhd crashed two weeks ago. It was unprecedented. Usually, it is the retailers who are hit. But now, the banks and brokers are feeling the brunt of the selldown in several speculative counters. Seasoned hands in the stock-broking industry say it is a new phenomena. Why are the stockbrokers being battered by speculative activities? Is it due to the changing landscape where the demand to perform is so high that brokers raise their appetite for risk?
What happened on Bursa Malaysia last week was not the norm. Nearly all brokers and many banks were hit when several counters hit limit down. "Those who were not affected are those who are not in the market at all," quips a broker.
Normally, speculative stocks see their prices rise and fall time and again, with hardly anyone batting an eyelid. At best, these movements elicit an "unusual market activity" inquiry from Bursa Malaysia and a standard-form reply denying any knowledge from the company concerned.
Last week's selldown has caused the Securities Commission (SC) to summon stockbrokers for a meeting this Monday and to issue a statement promising an investigation, and punishment for the "wrong-doers".

Monday June 27th 2005

Securities Commission arrest duo

BY YAP LENG KUEN

PETALING JAYA: The Securities Commission (SC) has arrested two individuals in relation to trading of shares in Fountain View Development Bhd.
Sources close to the SC told The Star that the two, one of whom was arrested yesterday morning and the other in the afternoon, would be charged today at the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court.
One of them is believed to be a major shareholder of Fountain View, a property developer company and oil palm plantation owner that was listed via a reverse takeover of Plantations & Development Bhd at the end of 2003.

The article continues..

The sources indicated that investigations were still ongoing in relation to trading of shares. This included those of Fountain View which had made a good debut on the stock exchange. It had ended its maiden day at RM2.70 compared with its reference price of RM1.
Fountain View, which had traded to as high as about RM5 for almost a year, recently fell to just over 40 sen at one stage.
Its share price plunged 90% in just five days in late April and early last month, which brought down its total market value from a peak of RM2bil to just RM200mil, a loss of RM1.8bil.
This was one of the biggest and fastest collapses of market value of a listed company in corporate Malaysia.

And another article..

Fountain View board "mum" on director's arrest
By Tamimi Omar

More than 100 shareholders of Fountain View Development Bhd turned up for the AGM at a hotel in Petaling Jaya on June 27, after reading press reports that a director, Datuk Chin Chan Leong, would be charged with share price and trading manipulation.
Most of the investors were anxious about the latest development following Chin's arrest and queried the directors about the arrest, recent selldown on the shares and also future direction of the company.
The meeting started at 10am and finished nearly 11am, but the shareholders told reporters later that none of the directors addressed any of their questions.
Chin, a former controlling shareholder in Fountain View, claimed trial on June 27 to two charges of manipulating the trading and price of the shares between November 2003 and January 2004. The court granted Chin bail at RM1 million, with one surety,
A remisier with Avenue Securities Sdn Bhd at the time, Joanne Hiew Yoke Lan, was charged with abetting Chin in both offences. The court set her bail at RM200,000 in one surety.
“Generally, we are all very unhappy,” said one shareholder and added: “They (the board of directors) refused to answer our questions on the arrest and would not comment on the share price performance of the company”.
Another shareholder blamed the authorities for the current situation, saying that it failed to act quickly when the situation on the stock market was deteriorating.
Fountain View hit a high of RM6.15 in the first week of January and hovered at RM4.70 and RM5.50 before a sharp plunge in late April. It hit limits down for four consecutive trading days from April 28 to May 3.