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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Rachel Scully
04 February 2014
Blumont Group shares held by two of its key executives are still being force-sold four months after the catastrophic crash of Blumont and two other penny stocks.
In early October last year, shares of Blumont, Asiasons Capital and LionGold Corp plummeted and wiped out $8 billion in value from the local market.
Holdings by Blumont chairman Neo Kim Hock through various nominees were reduced by 1.8 million shares collectively on Jan 28 and 29 after being sold in the market for $143,010.
Blumont said yesterday that Mr Neo’s stake has fallen to 3.8 per cent, or 98.1 million shares, down from 14.3 per cent prior to the penny stock crash.
Separately, shares held by executive director James Hong were also force-sold on two occasions over the same period for a similar amount. Mr Hong’s stake in the mining group stands at 0.81 per cent, or some 20.98 million shares.
Neither man could be reached for comment yesterday.
Mr Neo and Mr Hong are also embroiled in ongoing lawsuits involving banks and brokerages.
United States discount broker Interactive Brokers Group filed a suit against Mr Neo and seven other parties in the Singapore High Court last year to recover about $79 million.
Mr Hong, on the other hand, sought legal action in Britain’s High Court against a unit of banking giant Goldman Sachs for force-selling his shares. Goldman Sachs International then countersued Mr Hong for the amounts it is owed, and strongly rejected claims that it “dumped” the shares.
Blumont shares have closed at less than 10 cents since Dec 13 last year and ended 0.4 cent, or 5.2 per cent, down at 7.3 cents yesterday.