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10/22/13 10:57 AMPetronas unit sued for RM260 million over
contraband superbikes | Malaysia | - The Malaysian Insider
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MALAYSIA
Petronas unit sued for RM260 million over contrabandsuperbikesBY
V. ANBALAGAN, ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR
October 22, 2013
A fledgling Malaysian superbike maker has filed a RM260 million
suit against a unit of national oil firm Petronas for breach of
contract in the sale of an ill-fated decade-old racing
motorcycle venture.
At the heart of the suit is a hoard of nearly 130 superbikes,
the Petronas FP1, and the blueprints, that was developed for
millions of
ringgit but later stored in Malaysia before being sold to Momoto
Sdn Bhd in a tender exercise in 2011.
Momoto said it discovered that the defendant, Petronas Technical
Services Sdn Bhd, did not have the approved permits (APs) to bring
in superbikes from the
United Kingdom.
Documents sighted by The Malaysian Insider showed that Momoto
discovered that the defendant did not pay Customs and Excise duty
amounting to RM29
million for 129 superbikes.
Momoto, which has a paid-up capital of RM2.5 million, entered
into an agreement with Petronas Technical Services in March 2011
following which it paid the full
purchase price for 129 superbikes and spare parts from the
defendant.
Also included in the agreement was the assignment of patent and
industrial designs.
Momoto, which filed the suit at the High Court in Kuala Lumpur
last July, said in its statement of claim its investigations
revealed that Petronas Technical
Services had only registered two such motorcycles with the Road
Transport Department and there were no APs for the two
machines.
Last August, the Customs Department seized 129 motorcycles from
Momoto on grounds that the excise duty was not paid and there were
no APs for the
superbikes.
The customs seizure came just after Momoto had entered into a
research and development agreement with a foreign partner, Suter
Racing Technology AG, from
Switzerland.
As a result of the breach, the plaintiff said that not only did
its business deal with the Swiss company hit a snag but it also put
its business reputation at stake.
"We took it for granted that Petronas Technical would have
complied with the basic requirement of obtaining the APs and
settled all dues to the government at
the point of bringing the motorcycles into Malaysia," a
spokesman for Momoto told The Malaysian Insider.
Momoto is also facing the possibility of being slapped with
criminal charges for being in possession of contraband goods for
which duty was not paid.
Lawyer Rajinder Singh Veriah, who is representing Momoto in the
suit, confirmed the action was filed and the documents were sent to
Petronas Technical
Services.
"They have filed for a stay and for the matter to be referred
for arbitration," he said.
Motorcycle blog www.asphaltandrubber.com
(http://www.asphaltandrubber.com) reported last year that the
Petronas FP1 superbike had apparently been
mothballed before it was rebranded under the Momoto name when it
debuted as the Momoto MM1 in July 2012.
"With the project scrapped long ago, it seemed the Petronas FP1
dream was resting six-feet-under, until now. Rebranded under the
name Momoto, the Momoto
MM1 is the Petronas FP1 in new clothing," the blog said.
Another site, motorcyclenews.com (http://motorcyclenews.com)
(MCN) reported in 2010 that it had discovered a secret hoard of 60
25,000 (RM126,000) Foggy-
Petronas FP1 road bikes in a bunker in Essex.
The site quoted what Carl Fogarty race team manager and
figurehead of the ill-fated FP1 project said when told the news:
Youre joking thats amazing! It
had been thought and stated by the team that the bikes were
shipped to Malaysia five years ago and disposed of. But in fact
virtually all the bikes, initially
produced for WSB racing, are still on UK soil.
It said the collection, worth around 2 million (RM10 million),
was "held in a state of suspended animation awaiting, with the
bikes owner Malaysian oil giant
Petronas keen to draw a veil over the whole episode".
"The firm burned 30 million (RM153 million) on a WSB program
that was intended to kick-start a Ducati-sized bike manufacturing
business in Malaysia, but in
fact petered out with a 21st place championship finish in 2006,"
the site said, referring to the World Super Bike series.
According to the site, the bikes were manufactured for Petronas
by engineering firm MSX International in Basildon, Essex, in record
time in 2002, around
engines designed by Austrian firm Suter Racing.
"The idea was that the production process would then be
replicated in Malaysia and form the start of a range of higher and
lower-spec bikes running to ten
thousand and more. 75 road bikes were built in Essex, followed
by another 75 in Malaysia six months later, the site reported.
October 22, 2013.
http://www.asphaltandrubber.com/http://motorcyclenews.com/http://www.asphaltandrubber.com/
