SINGAPORE (June 10): Jeffrey Ong Su Aun, the managing partner of law firm JLC Advisors, who had been uncontactable since May 20, has been apprehended and charged. Ong, 41, was arrested in Malaysia and sent back to Singapore on May 30.
On June 1, Ong was charged in Singapore with cheating a company called CCJ Investments into disbursing $6 million as part of a loan agreement with another company, Suite Development. There was no loan agreement. Instead, part of the funds was used to refinance Suite Development’s mortgage loan, while the remainder was deposited into JLC’s client account.
The charge is unrelated to the $33 million belonging to Catalist-listed company Allied Technologies that was held in an escrow account managed by JLC and that subsequently went missing.
The law firm had written to Allied Technologies on May 23 saying it had reasons to believe that a $33 million payout from its escrow account, as instructed by Ong, “might have been unauthorised”.
For the charge of cheating CCJ Investments, Ong faces up to 10 years’ imprisonment and a fine if found guilty. His case has been adjourned to June 13. The Edge Singapore understands that he might face additional charges.
Ong was also non-executive chairman of Annica Holdings. He resigned abruptly via email on May 20 with immediate effect, citing personal reasons. According to Annica CEO Sandra Liz Hon Ai Ling, its continuing sponsor, Stamford Corporate Services, had been unable to arrange for an exit interview with Ong.
Annica is one of the companies reportedly linked to the alleged mastermind of the 2013 penny stock crash, John Soh Chee Wen, and his fellow defendant Quah Su-Ling.
Last September, Annica announced that Ong had been interviewed by the Commercial Affairs Department. Another Annica director, lawyer Nicholas Jeyaraj Narayanan, used to represent Goh Hin Calm, the third person charged with Soh and Quah. Narayanan was also interviewed by CAD.
In a separate announcement on June 5, Allied Technologies said it was Low Yew Shen, a partner at Elitaire Law LLP — which was handling the firm’s proposed placement exercise — who had recommended JLC Advisors to the company to act as its escrow agent in October 2017.
However, Allied Technologies said Low did not explicitly recommend Ong to any member of the company. It was a paralegal from Elitaire who had attached Ong’s and JLC’s profile for the company’s review, it added.
In its filing on June 5, Allied Technologies’ management said it had considered appointing Elitaire Law as the escrow agent, but as the proceeds from the proposed placement were sizeable, the then management was of the view that it would be more prudent to engage a “sizeable” law firm. JLC’s website lists eight lawyers of varying seniority — including Ong.
“Hence, Elitaire Law LLP recommended JLC as one of the options to be the escrow agent,” said Allied Technologies in its response to a series of queries by the Singapore Exchange.
Besides Ong, other individuals have come under investigation in connection with the case. On May 29, Kenneth Low Si Ren, an executive director of Allied Technologies, was questioned by CAD. His passport, laptop and handphone have been seized, as were documents and other records at Allied Technologies’ premise.
Trading of Allied Technologies shares has been suspended since May 3. It last traded at 1.1 cents, down 15.4% year to date.
This story first appeared in The Edge Singapore (Issue 885, week of June 10). Subscribe here
