GEORGE TOWN, March 27 – Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow has denied any links between the Penang Development Corporation (PDC) and the defunct pyramid scheme MBI. Addressing concerns raised in news reports, Chow clarified that PDC had sold the RM1.07 billion Bayan Mutiara land to Ivory Properties Group through a request for proposal in 2011 for a mixed development project.
He emphasized that PDC has had no connection with MBI, either in the past or present, and has not been called to assist in the ongoing police investigation. Chow further explained that while the land sale was finalized in 2018, any changes in company equity required PDC’s consent. In 2019, a supplemental agreement was signed, transferring ownership of Tropicana Ivory Sdn Bhd to Hemat Tuah, which later rebranded as Mutiara Metropolis Sdn Bhd.
The company is now responsible for completing the development by November 11, 2028, with reclamation works already at 60% completion. Reports have surfaced indicating that a brother of MBI founder Tedy Teow Wooi Huat is a major shareholder in Hemat Tuah, but Chow maintained that PDC’s involvement ended with the initial land sale.
