IPP Barry Palmer - Face Book Discussion (Part 2)

                                                       (Photo Past IP with current IP)
                                                 First IP from Australia and first woman IP

Let us start from the very beginning… a very good place to start.

I reported about misappropriation of funds by the Lions Club of Kota Kinabalu Host (the name the club was known to all members). I wrote to LCIF if they had given grants to LCKK Host and the answer was in the negative.

The name registered with the Registry of Societies in Sabah was under another name – Lions Club of Kota Kinabalu (without the suffix Host).

Yet, LCKK Host was carrying out projects stating that money has been received from LCIF.

LCKK Host had three bank accounts under the name Lions Club of Kota Kinabalu Host in a bank called ‘Alliance Bank’.

LCKK Host had another 2 bank accounts under the name Lions Club of Kota Kinabalu (Without the suffix Host) in another bank called Hong Leong Bank. 

Only 2 of the three bank accounts in Alliance bank were made known to the directors and most members. The two bank accounts together with fixed deposit in Hong Leong Bank were unknown to most members.

The above is just the preliminaries. Without the preamble above, the misappropriation of funds from LCIF grants cannot be understood. 

Note: The bank accounts opened under two different names is only possible because one of the culprits (Past President Joseph Chai) in this whole scheme was the senior office of the bank that approved the name of LCKK Host despite that name not being registered with Registry of Societies.

Barry, if you have no question on the above I will continue on how the grant from LCIF was misappropriated.

Luqman Michel When I wrote to LCIF, the manager stated that all excess funds, after the project is completed, must be returned to LCIF. She wrote that LCIF has no record of grants given to LCKK Host. I insisted that we had several projects over the years where grants were channeled via another club in Korea and/or Japan. She still insisted that there was no trace of money being granted to LCKK Host. 

Then as we were getting to the bottom of the matter LCIF suddenly realized that there is something wrong and informed me that matters will be handled by LCI and not by her. LCI did not want to continue with the discussion. Perhaps LCKK Host is not registered with LCIF and the grant money was probably received by LCKK. 

Please ask me anything that is not clear to you, Barry.

Luqman Michel A Past Presidents Council had been formed to make siphoning of funds possible. One bank account in Alliance Bank and the two bank accounts in Hong Leong bank were never disclosed to most of the members. Only a few of the Past Presidents were privy to these bank accounts. When I was appointed director for the year 2015/2016 I, together with all directors were given the 2 bank accounts in Alliance Bank. Having been an audit clerk/senior and subsequently working in the accounting field for the better part of my life I could easily see that the bank accounts submitted to the directors did not reconcile with projects carried out. I wrote to all members via email and asked if there were more than the two bank accounts provided to the directors each month. The privileged past presidents decided to expel me and that was done with trumped up charges via an EGM. I wrote to LCI while I was still a member as at December 2016. After a series of Emails LCI responded and asked me to contact the DG and resolve the matter. 

After I was expelled in January 2017 LCI did not want to entertain my emails saying I am no longer a member. Any questions Barry?

Luqman Michel It was then that I decided to thoroughly check. My check with Registry of Societies (ROS) revealed that only two bank accounts were submitted to them. I also found out that the name of the club registered with ROS is that of LCKK and not LCKK Host. 

The name LCKK Host was only approved by ROS in November 2016. 

Meanwhile I made a police report before the EGM.

John Ho,Francis Liew (Secretary) and Past President Arabi Wazani hoodwinked the police into believing that all bank accounts were made known to all members and the police decided that I had no case against the club. I will now give you conclusive evidence of LCIF grant being siphoned off. 

What will you do with the Past Presidents involved in this elaborate scheme?

Luqman Michel I will let you read the above and see of you have any questions before continuing with this tomorrow.