Midas could be insolvent soon amid fraud allegations
Midas Holdings, once a billion-dollar company with a promising future in China's booming rail sector, may join the list of insolvent companies as it falls victim to alleged fraud and misdeeds overseas, leaving minority shareholders in Singapore to pay the price and cry out in desperation for accountability. Listed on Feb 23, 2004 on the Singapore Exchange (SGX) and on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong (SEHK) on Oct 6, 2010 in a secondary listing, Midas was once favoured as a leading manufacturer of aluminium alloy extrusion products for China's rail transportation sector. At one point, JP Morgan had an almost-8 per cent stake in the company. It is unclear if it still owns Midas shares. But things took a quick turn for the company, now struggling with law suits filed in China over unauthorised loans by its former chairman Chen Wei Ping, and guarantees involving its Chinese subsidiaries. Mr Chen, now under probe by China's Economic Crime Investigation Unit for frau...