TWO former senior employees of UOB Kay Hian Private Limited (UOBKH) were charged on Wednesday for allegedly lying to the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) in relation to reports on a then Catalist aspirant. Lan Kang Ming, 38, and Wee Toon Lee, 34, each face three charges of providing MAS with false information in October 2018 in relation to due diligence reports on an unidentified company applying to list on the Catalist board of the Singapore Exchange. MAS said in a media statement on Wednesday that it was performing an onsite inspection of UOBKH between June and August 2018, to assess the latter's controls, policies and procedures in relation to its role as an issue manager for Initial Public Offering (IPOs). During the examination, Lan and Wee were said to have provided different versions of a due diligence report relating to background checks on a company applying to be listed on the Catalist board of the Singapore Exchange. UOBKH had acted as the issue manager
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Kenneth Lim
04 December 2013
Some of the parties in October’s penny stock collapse have popped up in a couple of soured deals making their way through Singapore courts involving Malaysian dealmaker John Soh Chee Wen.
The disputes, which emerged in court around 2012 and are ongoing, involve various investment projects and certain borrowing and security arrangements.
On one side is recently appointed Unionmet (Singapore) chairman and chief executive Tony Li Hua and two companies associated with him: Sunmax Global Capital and Hua Xin Innovation Incubator.
The other side includes Mr Soh; Blumont Group chairman Neo Kim Hock; Ipco International chief executive Quah Su-Ling; Innopac Holdings chief executive Wong Chin Yong; and LionGold Corp director of business and corporate development Peter Chen Hing Woon.
The opening shot was fired on July 29, 2012, when eight parties filed a joint suit against Mr Li and Sunmax Global’s Sunmax Global Capital Fund 1, a private equity fund. The eight plaintiffs are Ms Quah; Mr Chen; Mr Neo’s associated company Neptune Capital Group; Blumont wholly-owned subsidiary Powerlite Ventures; China Data System Investments, a private company in which Mr Wong is director; Chinese national Ge Lei; and the British Virgin Islands-incorporated entities Infinite Results Holding Corp and Skyline Agents.
According to court documents, that dispute involved certain loan and extension agreements, among other issues, in which some of the plaintiffs allegedly borrowed from Sunmax Global Capital Fund 1 and pledged shares as security for the loans.
Sunmax Global Capital Fund 1 and Mr Li sued them back. But in his counterclaim, Mr Li added Mr Soh as a defendant, alleging that Mr Soh had agreed to the transfer of shares as compensation for some failed investments.
On Aug 31, 2012, it was Hua Xin’s turn to fire its salvo. Hua Xin sued Ipco International, alleging that Ipco failed to return a $1.35 million advance on a loan agreement related to a joint development deal that was signed on March 12, 2012 and lapsed two months later.
Ipco said that the advance was included as part of a global settlement agreement that parties in the first dispute had allegedly reached on July 24, but Hua Xin disputed that. Ipco sought to move this dispute to arbitration, but Assistant Registrar Keith Han rejected that application, consolidated both cases and kept them in the courts.
Mr Soh is a prominent businessman from Malaysia who once controlled Ipco and Innopac. But he left those companies and fell off the radar at the turn of the century. From 1999 to 2002, Malaysian authorities sought his arrest over certain securities transactions. He eventually pleaded guilty to abetting charges.
But Ipco, Innopac and the companies that have been linked to them via cross investments, shared management and business deals - Asiasons Capital, Blumont and LionGold, among others - recently came under the spotlight.
On Oct 4, Asiasons, Blumont and LionGold shares were suspended after steep dives in their stock prices. Shares of many penny stocks, including Ipco and Innopac, also took a hit, resulting in massive losses in the market. The Monetary Authority of Singapore and Singapore Exchange are investigating.
Ms Quah, Mr Neo, Mr Chen, Neptune Capital and Ipco, via subsidiary Sun Spirit Group, are respondents in ongoing arbitration proceedings that have been filed by Interactive Brokers, which is trying to claim about US$68 million following the October plunge.
Ms Quah, Blumont executive director James Hong Gee Ho and LionGold independent director Lynne Ng Su Ling have also filed separate suits in the United Kingdom against Goldman Sachs, alleging that the bank had unreasonably force-sold their Asiasons and LionGold shares that had been pledged for certain borrowing facilities.
Ipco has not made any announcements regarding Hua Xin or Interactive Brokers’ freezing of its Sun Spirit subsidiary’s assets.
Innopac financial controller and company secretary Stanley Chu Kam Po, who is also a director at China Data System Investments, said he did not know anything about the lawsuits.