CORPORATE figure Lim How Teck and four fellow directors of Raffles Education, including chairman-cum-chief executive Chew Hua Seng, were charged on Friday (Sep 20) with breaching disclosure obligations under the Securities and Futures Act.
Lim, Chew, Ng Kwan Meng, Ho Yan Jun, and John Teo Cheng Lok face two charges each.
The two disclosure charges stem from a loan of about RM416 million (S$125.3 million) extended by Affin Bank to the private education provider’s subsidiaries – Raffles K12 and Raffles Iskandar – which manage schools in Malaysia.
The Raffles Education group was first served legal letters in February 2021; the lawsuit filed by Affin Bank followed in May 2021, asking for immediate repayment of the loan. However, this was disclosed to shareholders only two months later, on Jul 29, at the request of the Singapore Exchange.
Lim resigned as chairman of Temasek-backed Heliconia Capital, months after the 73-year-old was arrested in February 2022 over the alleged disclosure breaches.
Both he and Ng, 67, are independent non-executive directors; the 61-year-old Ho is a non-independent, non-executive director, says the education provider’s website.
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Chew, 70, is controlling shareholder and founder of Raffles Education.
Teo, 74, stepped down as an independent, non-executive director in July 2021, having served on the board since October 2008, a period of more than 12 years.
The cases of Lim and the other four have been adjourned to Nov 1, as their counsel said they have just been engaged and needed to take instructions from the accused, who are out on bail of S$30,000 each.
Each charge prescribes a maximum punishment of up to seven years imprisonment and a fine not exceeding S$250,000.
Doris Chung Gim Lian, a director and member of management of Raffles K12 and Raffles Iskandar, and who was among those said to have been arrested in 2022, was not charged on Friday.
Raffles Education requested a trading halt on Friday morning, ahead of the market open, pending the release of an announcement.
