Former Entellium execs nabbed for fraud

PETALING JAYA: Multimedia Development Corporation — guardian of the country’s MSC Malaysia initiative — is keeping a close eye on the alleged fraud in the United States involving a prominent MSC Malaysia-status company, Entellium Corp.

MDeC is monitoring the situation, said Ng Wan Peng, vice-president of its capability development division, after news of the alleged crime came to light in Malaysia.

Two former top Entellium executives were arrested in the United States recently for allegedly overstating the company’s revenue in order to attract more funding. The arrests were reported by The New York Times this week.

“Everybody is still in shock over this,” Husni Salleh, Malaysia Venture Capital Management Bhd (Mavcap) chief executive officer, told In.Tech on Tuesday. Mavcap, a subsidiary of the Finance Ministry, has RM7mil invested in Entellium.

Entellium also has an R&D grant of RM7.5mil from MDeC, of which RM1.2mil has been disbursed.

“There are policies and processes in place to manage and monitor the grant of MSC Malaysia-status and other incentives. Such policies and processes are constantly being reviewed and updated,” said MDeC’s Ng.

According to The New York Times, former Entellium chief executive Paul Johnston and former chief financial officer Parris Jones are accused of overstating revenue by more than 400% over the last three years.

They allegedly inflated 2007 revenue from US$1.74mil (RM6.09mil) to US$5.22mil (RM18.27mil).

The report also said that the customer relationship management software company had laid off 50 of its 68 employees at its Seattle headquarters due to financial problems.

In this country, Entellium has its R&D operations and helpdesk at the Petronas Twin Towers. Local Entellium officials could not be contacted for comment last week.

Entellium offers sales, customer service, and marketing automation solutions that are hosted over the Internet.

It was set up in Malaysia in 2000 and expanded to Seattle in 2003. It received MSC Malaysia-status last year.

Entellium was named “The One to Watch” in the US CRM market leader awards (salesforce automation category) in the Sept 2004 issue of CRM magazine. -The Star

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Too much melamine found in 18 types of biscuits - The StarOnline

PUTRAJAYA: Eighteen types of biscuits bearing the Khong Guan and Khian Guan brands have been found to contain excessive levels of melamine.

Health Minister Datuk Liow Tiong Lai said the contamination is from the raising agent ammonium bicarbonate from China which was used to produce the biscuits.
Quick action: Sundry shopowner, Tan, said she would remove the biscuits from her shelves even though she has yet to hear from them.

As a result, Liow said, ammonium bicarbonate from China was now banned. Ammonium bicarbonate from other countries would be taken for tests.

“Results from our tests found that the melamine level in the ammonium carbonate used for Khong Guan and Khian Guan biscuits is 33.4ppm and 508ppm respectively,” he told a press conference on Thursday.

The permissible level of melamine is 2.5 parts per million (ppm).

He said 18 out of 47 products had been found with excessive levels of melamine and the manufacturer has been instructed to recall them.

“We have also requested that they voluntarily recall the rest of their products,” he said.

“All factories that use ammonium bicarbonate from China will have their products tested. We will test all biscuits in the country,” he said.

Earlier, the ministry had found Ego White Rabbit Creamy Candy and Taro brand biscuit by Bairong to contain excessive levels of melamine and ordered that the products be withdrawn.

He said the ministry was checking Julie’s Crackers and Mali unsweetened condensed milk which was reported in the media to contain excessive levels of melamine.

Liow said consumers could contact the Food Services and Quality division at 03-8883 3655/3503/3652/3500 for information.

Khong Guan Sdn Bhd and Khian Guan Biscuit Manufacturing Company Sdn Bhd, in a joint statement, said they would fully cooperate with the ministry and would ensure that the products were recalled quickly.

The two companies said they have ceased using ammonium bicarbonate from China and had switched to those sourced from other countries.

“Khian Guan and Khong Guan have never used any dairy ingredients of Chinese origin in our products. All our dairy ingredients are sourced from either Australia or New Zealand,” they added.

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