Latest news with #ChoWeePeng
CNA
16 hours ago
- Business
- CNA
Olivia Lum and other ex-Hyflux leaders go on trial over omissions to SGX about Tuaspring project
SINGAPORE: Four years after the High Court ordered the once-celebrated homegrown water treatment firm Hyflux to wind up, its leaders are going on trial over alleged omissions in communications to investors and the Singapore Exchange (SGX) regarding the Tuaspring Project. Issues with the project ultimately led to the company's collapse and millions in losses for investors. The six who went on trial on Monday (Aug 11) are mostly in their sixties. They are: Olivia Lum Ooi Lin, 64, then the CEO, director and executive chairman of the board of Hyflux; Cho Wee Peng, 56, former Hyflux chief financial officer; and independent directors of Hyflux Gay Chee Cheong, 68; Teo Kiang Kok, 69; Murugasu Christopher, 66; and Lee Joo Hai, 69. A seventh person in the case, former Hyflux independent director Rajsekar Kuppuswami Mitta, was fined S$90,000 (about US$70,000) last week after pleading guilty. The prosecution said in their opening statement that Hyflux was Singapore's first publicly listed water treatment and seawater desalination company. "The collapse resulted in significant losses to investors, including about 34,000 investors holding perpetual securities and preference shares who were owed a total of S$900 million," the prosecution said. Hyflux's collapse can be traced to the Tuaspring project, a project to design, build, own and operate Singapore's second and largest seawater reverse osmosis desalination plant in Tuas for a concession period of 25 years, with an on-site power plant providing electricity to the desalination plant. Hyflux successfully bid for the project in 2011, in response to a tender conducted by the Public Utilities Board, now known as PUB. Investors were led to believe that Tuaspring Project was primarily a desalination project, with Hyflux's announcement in March 2011 giving an impression that the power plant was to be built to supply power to the desalination plant. But in reality, the financial viability of the Tuaspring Project depended entirely on the sale of electricity, said the prosecutors. This meant that the Tuaspring Project exposed Hyflux to electricity market risks in what was a brand-new business for the company, said the prosecution. These material facts were allegedly not disclosed to the investing public, and the omission was purportedly repeated when the offer information statement was released to raise funds from the public. The prosecution is pursuing charges under the Securities and Futures Act (SFA) linked to two key public statements by Hyflux that contained material non-disclosures: The March 2011 announcement, forming the basis of certain charges against all six Hyflux ex-leaders, and the April 2011 offer information statement, which forms the basis of certain charges against five of them. Both documents allegedly failed to disclose the following: That the Tuaspring Project was Hyflux's expansion into a new business of selling electricity, that revenue from the sale of electricity from Tuaspring Project's power plant was projected to make up the significant majority of the project's revenue, and that the profitability of the project was contingent on revenue from the sale of electricity from the power plant. According to court records, a total of 57 days has been slated for the trial over two tranches between August and October and November and January. The trial is presided over by Principal District Judge Toh Han Li.
CNA
18 hours ago
- Business
- CNA
Trial to begin for former Hyflux CEO Olivia Lum, ex-CFO and directors
SINGAPORE: The trial of former Hyflux CEO Olivia Lum and five others begins on Monday (Aug 11) over the company's failure to disclose information about the Tuaspring integrated water and power project. This comes nearly three years after they were charged - the culmination of a dramatic downfall for the water treatment firm. Before Hyflux went into liquidation in July 2021, it was one of Singapore's most successful companies. Lum won accolades at a time when female founders were not common. She now faces a months-long trial, along with former chief financial officer Cho Wee Peng and four independent directors.
Malay Mail
2 days ago
- Business
- Malay Mail
After years of delays, Singapore's biggest corporate scandal trial starts tomorrow
SINGAPORE, Aug 10 — The trial of Hyflux founder and former chief executive Olivia Lum Ooi Lin, former chief financial officer Cho Wee Peng, and several former board members will finally start tomorrow, nearly three years after they were charged under the Securities and Futures Act. Seven individuals were accused of failing to disclose key information about the Tuaspring Integrated Water and Power Project, which later became central to Hyflux's financial collapse. Six defendants will contest the charges in a 56-day trial running until Feb 5, 2026, while one former independent director has already pleaded guilty, Singapore's The Straits Times reported. The case follows Hyflux's 2021 winding-up order, which left about 34,000 investors — including some from Malaysia — with total losses of around S$900 million in perpetual securities and preference shares. Prosecutors will proceed on 11 charges against the six defendants, including two of the six counts faced by Lum, while four other charges against her will be considered during sentencing if she is found guilty. The first charge alleges that Lum consented to Hyflux withholding information about Tuaspring when disclosure was required under Singapore Exchange rules to prevent a false market in its securities. Prosecutors say Lum failed to inform the exchange that Tuaspring was Hyflux's first step into the electricity market and that the plant's profitability depended heavily on electricity sales revenue. If convicted of this charge, the 64-year-old faces a maximum penalty of seven years in prison, a S$250,000 (RM824,000) fine, or both. The second charge accuses her of omitting the same information in Hyflux's April 13, 2011, offer statement for S$200 million worth of 6 per cent preference shares, an offence that carries up to two years' jail, a S$150,000 fine, or both. Cho, 56, who also served as Hyflux's group executive vice-president, faces charges of conniving in the omission of Tuaspring-related information. Four former independent directors – Teo Kiang Kok, 69; Christopher Murugasu, 66; Gay Chee Cheong, 69; and Lee Joo Hai, 69 – each face two charges of neglect and omission of material details about Tuaspring. Another independent director, Rajsekar Kuppuswami Mitta, pleaded guilty on Aug 7 to neglect in a 2011 announcement that named Hyflux as the 'preferred bidder' for Tuaspring without disclosing it was entering the electricity business, and was fined S$90,000 and barred from directorship for five years.
