Two ex-UOBKH staff charged with lying to MAS over due diligence reports on a Catalist aspirant

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 for the IPO listing.

 The Catalist aspirant subsequently went ahead with its IPO, and is still listed on the Singapore Exchange, The Business Times understands.

 The company was not named in the pair's charge sheets. Neither was its name given in the MAS media statement. 

Lan was holding the position of senior vice president (VP) of UOBKH, while Wee was a VP, before both resigned, according to Google search results. They were in the IPO team when they allegedly committed the offences, said MAS in the statement. 

According to the charge sheets, Lan allegedly lied to an MAS investigator on Oct 26, 2018, when he said he did not get one Ng Wei Chuen Benjamin to amend a report titled "Project Timber - Final Report" by Caerus Consulting.

 Also, he was accused of not telling the truth when he said that the paragraph on the awarding of timber concessions was already present in an earlier version of the Caerus Consulting report in March 2018.

 Lan has also been charged with lying about Wee having received the Caerus Consulting report in March or April that year.

 Wee, also known as Gregory, was said to have lied to MAS when he said the report was revised by Benjamin without his knowledge, that he did not have a soft copy of the report as well as he had received the report in the second quarter of 2018. 

MAS said in the statement 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 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 for the IPO listing. 

UOBKH senior director Ding Hock Chai confirmed to BT that Lan and Wee had resigned last year. (see amendment note)

 The court has adjourned their cases to July 22 for further mention. The pair, who were charged under the Securities and Futures Act, could each be fined up to S$50,000, jailed up to two years, or both, for each offence, if convicted.

 

Tay Peck Gek