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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Firm asked to provide more data in relation to penny stock investigation
Grace Leong
01 May 2014
Blumont Group executive chairman Neo Kim Hock stepped down yesterday just as Singapore’s white-collar crime buster sought more information from the firm.
The Commercial Affairs Department (CAD) asked for more data from Blumont, including material on several proposed takeovers, some aborted after last October’s penny stock crash.
In a Singapore Exchange (SGX) statement yesterday, Blumont said Mr Neo, 66, stood down due to “personal commitments”. The mineral and energy resources firm did not respond to requests for comment.
Blumont, LionGold Corp, Annica Holdings, Magnus Energy Group, ITE Electric Co and their units - among eight listed firms being probed - have been asked this week by the CAD to provide more data, including accounting records, meeting minutes, resolutions and other documents.
The fresh requests, which started on Tuesday and continued yesterday, came after the CAD seized computers, data storage devices and financial records from the eight firms and their units on April 2 as part of a sweeping investigation into trading irregularities in Blumont, Asiasons Capital and LionGold.
On Tuesday, Blumont was asked to provide documents relating to the proposed takeovers of Australian-listed Cokal, iron ore miner Hudson Minerals Holdings and Powerlite Ventures, and a proposed investment in Resource Generation.
Blumont on Oct 4 had called off a $146 million proposed takeover of Cokal less than 12 hours after announcing the deal. In January, Blumont shelved its acquisition of Hudson Minerals.
Blumont, G1 Investments and its wholly owned unit, Waddells International, were also asked to provide records from Jan 1, 2011, to March 31 this year. Also sought was data on a result warning lodged by Blumont with the SGX on July 19 last year. Blumont had said that it was likely to report a loss for the second quarter ended June 30 last year.
Meanwhile, shares of Blumont plummeted nearly 10 per cent yesterday, down 0.3 cents, to close at 2.8 cents. LionGold slid one per cent, or 0.1 cents to close at 9.8 cents with 13.2 million shares done. Magnus shares closed flat at 1.2 cents, while Annica shares were up 0.2 cents to 1.2 cents.
“There are questions over whether management will be able to focus on operational efficiency and its business, or if they will be distracted by the ongoing probe,” remisier Alvin Yong said.
Earlier this month, Mr Neo and executive director James Hong Gee Ho were among 13 executives asked to provide all of their corporate data from Jan 1, 2011, to April 3 this year.
The Monetary Authority of Singapore and CAD are investigating alleged false trading and market rigging after shares of the three penny stocks skyrocketed between 40 per cent and 160 per cent last August and September before plunging 91 per cent to 96 per cent over a few days in October, erasing more than $8 billion in market value.
The CAD yesterday asked ITE Electric and its unit, ITE Assets Holdings, as well as Annica and a unit, Nu-Haven Inc, to provide accounting records and other documents for the period from Jan 1, 2011, to March 31 this year. Magnus Energy and its unit, Antig Investments, and Wallmans, a former unit of Antig, were asked to provide similar data from July 1, 2010, to March 31 this year.
Documents on LionGold’s proposed acquisition of Minera IRL, along with accounting records from April 1, 2010, to March 31 this year were also sought. Both agreed on Oct 10 last year to abort negotiations due to volatility in LionGold’s share price.