July 2nd 2020 – AirAsia Group Bhd secured a RM300 million loan from Sabah Development Bank Bhd (SDB).
Two weeks earlier, somewhere in June 2020 – prominent Sabah businessman Ambrose Lee, Kalimulah Hassan, Kamaruddin Meranun and Tony Fernandes and a few more from Air Asia were seen in Kota Kinabalu having sumptuous Fish Head Curry, celebrating the approval of 300 million loan.

Shafie Apdal has to answer how come loan approved without public knowing it and without the usual funfair when such huge loans are approved by a state agency? Even Air Asia only now in October 2020 was forced to admit and to come out to say that RM300 million loan from SDB was approved and already disbursed.
How can SDB being a state agency that should be serving Sabah Industries and businesses gave a huge RM300 million loan without letting Sabahans know?
And is it true that the RM300 million loan was hurriedly released to Air Asia when Chief Minister Hajiji Noor was in the intensive care unit (ICU) of Queen Elizabeth Hospital II (QEH II) receiving treatment in hospital for Covid-19?
This loan was approved on July 2nd 2020 when in early June Air Asia had already started retrenching staffs, including in Sabah. The Air Asia staffs even complain compensation was not enough. It was even reported that the airline had laid off over 2,400 employees since Malaysia’s borders were closed on March 18 this year. So how can SDB approve RM300 million loan to Air Asia when airlines everywhere were grounded due to COVID-19 and international borders were closed? How can SDB approve this loan on July 2nd when Sabah also stopped Chinese flights in January followed by other international flights?
Since the emergence of Covid-19 in early 2020, demand for air travel has been hampered and exacerbated by international borders closures. This has taken a heavy toll on most airlines’ operations globally.
Even before this loan was approved and hurriedly disbursed bigger airlines like Virgin, Cathay Pacific, American Airlines were already retrenching tens and thousands of workers and also facing bankruptcy.
What was the collateral Air Asia gave the Sabah state government to secure this loan? If it was shares of Air Asia it has no value as Tony Fernandez owes creditors 60 billion as reported. Even Malaysia Airports Holdings is suing Air Asia for RM78.16 million. High debt levels have made the situation even dicier.
So how can Warisan government approve this loan to Air Asia on July 2nd?
Looking at some of the directors of SDB shows that they are mostly Warisan people, see here 
And the Managing Director of Sabah Development Bank (SDB) –
Can we imagine how much RM300 million can do to the Sabah economy during this COVID times? SDB should be made answerable for the loan approval and Shafie has a lot of answering to do.
As coronavirus reduces travel, Air Asia is in a tough spot owing to its high levels of debt.
This is total madness and this doesn’t make sense at all!
UPDATED OCTOBER 28th
I’ve nothing to hide, says Shafie over MACC probe into RM300 million loan to AirAsia
KOTA KINABALU: Former Sabah chief minister Shafie Apdal welcomes any investigation into the RM300 million loan from state-owned Sabah Development Bank Sdn Bhd (SDB) to low-cost carrier AirAsia.
The Semporna MP said that as the former chief minister and state finance minister, neither he nor anyone in the previous administration had anything to hide over the approved loan, adding that “nothing was hidden” too in the whole process.
“This is because the loan was not approved overnight. Instead, SDB had carried out its own investigation and thorough risk assessment before deciding to approve the loan.
“AirAsia is a public-listed company with Bursa Malaysia, hence, the approval for any transaction worth RM300 million will only be given after all conditions of the loan are met by the borrower,” Shafie said, in a statement here today.
The Warisan president said as a favourite airline among Malaysians, AirAsia had a development plan that would benefit Sabah, adding the carrier had targeted to create 100,000 job opportunities in the state.
“As a state administrator, we cannot depend on one company alone, such as Malaysia Airlines. The role of other companies, especially AirAsia, should not be underestimated.
“In line with that, as a government responsible to develop the economy, close cooperation was needed with AirAsia because, if their plan worked, Sabahans will reap the benefits.”
Earlier today, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) office in Sabah had confirmed it had initiated a probe on SDB’s loan to AirAsia to establish if there were elements of graft involved.
A local daily had reported that Chief Minister Hajiji Noor had also ordered a probe into how the RM300 million approved by SDB, under the previous Warisan-led administration, was disbursed in a hurry to AirAsia after the Gabungan Rakyat Sabah government took over.
Meanwhile, Shafie disclosed that AirAsia had planned several projects in the state capital, including an agriculture produce storage facility known as “OurFarm”.ADVERTISING
He added this was in line with the airlines’ target of becoming the main distributor of agricultural fishery products that would be marketed through e-commerce channels.
The Senallang assemblyman said AirAsia was also planning to spend RM110 million to develop the Kota Kinabalu International Airport (KKIA) as their international hub.
“All those plans will surely benefit Sabah as a state rich with agricultural and fishery resources.
“In fact, when I was the chief minister, the 2021-2030 agriculture development action plan was launched to make Sabah a distributor of agriculture produce besides ensuring the country’s food security,” he said.
Shafie said with the creation of a product supply chain, Sabahan farmers will then be able to generate more income with a larger market reach internationally through AirAsia.
In the tourism industry, he said Sabah’s glory days as a tourist destination will be restored if AirAsia’s target of making the state as its international hub becomes a reality.
“We know that before Covid-19 hit, Sabah’s economy had increased rapidly in the tourism sector and the people enjoyed the economic windfall, not only in Kota Kinabalu but also all the way to the east coast of the state.”
from FMT, see here: https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2020/10/28/ive-nothing-to-hide-says-shafie-over-macc-probe-into-rm300-million-loan-to-airasia/
UPDATED OCTOBER 30th
Bernama Published 9:14 pm
AirAsia Group Bhd has reiterated that the transaction whereby it secured the aggregate RM300 million loan facilities from Sabah Development Bank (SDB) was completed in accordance with all laws, policies and procedures pertaining to its application.
In a filing with Bursa Malaysia today, the budget carrier also said the transaction took five months to complete from the time of application.
The facilities have been approved by SDB for the development of the various projects and are intended to bring about significant positive socio-economic impacts to the state of Sabah, it said.
“With the facilities, AirAsia’s contribution (currently at almost one per cent to the state’s gross domestic product) is expected to double within the next 10 years and help Sabah regain its position as a top tourism destination post-Covid-19,” AirAsia said.
The company said the transaction would, among others, enable AirAsia to accelerate its expansion plans to transform Kota Kinabalu into an international hub for its passenger and logistics operations.
AirAsia said it had been providing domestic and international connectivity to Sabah since 2001, flying in 660,000 visitors to the state and supporting almost 60,000 jobs in the state.
The facilities, it said, would also be used to develop and enhance cold chain facilities in Sabah that would increase the marketability of the state’s fresh produce domestically and internationally through AirAsia’s Ourfarm digital food supply platform.
“This would potentially result in increased profits for farmers and fishermen in the state, which is in line with Sabah’s mission of becoming a top food-producing state in Malaysia and contributing towards the country’s food security,” the airline said.
AirAsia’s statement follows various news articles regarding the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) investigating the RM300 million loan facilities given by the Sabah state-owned bank to the airline.
At the close today, shares of AirAsia fell 0.9 per cent to 55 sen.
– Bernama
https://bernama.com/en/news.php?id=1895484
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