SINGAPORE (June 4): NGSC says it has lodged a police report against two of its former directors for their alleged involvement in suspected unauthorised payments amounting to $1.1 million.
In a filing on Monday, the company says it is in the midst of “seeking legal advice on available courses of action” to recover these suspected unauthorised payments.
While the identities of the two said directors were not disclosed, the news comes days after the company cancelled its extraordinary general meeting (EGM) – which was originally slated to be held this week on Thursday – to remove four of its directors, as they had already resigned ahead of the EGM date.
Among these directors was former CEO Vicente S Ku, who was fired as CEO and managing director earlier on March 8 due to “unresolved differences in opinion on material matters” which NGSC has yet to elaborate on.
NGSC initially acknowledged in its March 15 filing that there was “unsatisfied judgement” against Ku regarding his termination, but later on said this was an error in a March 21 corrigendum.
Ku was re-designated as a non-executive, non-independent director – a post which he later on resigned from on May 30, which coincided with the day NGSC released its FY19 financial statement announcing a smaller full-year loss of $2.6 million compared to a loss of $26.6 million a year ago.
Formerly known as Next-Generation Satellite Communications before it underwent a name change in Dec 2107, NGSC is a provider of satellite-based telecommunication services mainly to financial and educational institutions in Singapore and China.
The group’s smaller loss came on the back of significantly lower other expenses, in the absence of an impairment loss in joint ventures as well as provision of doubtful debts on other receivables. FY19 revenue however remained at zero, unchanged from a year ago.
The other directors which the June 6 EGM sought to oust were Andrew Coulton, Lai Chik Fan and Li Man Wai.
According to NGSC, Coulton submitted his resignation on the same date as Ku. Lai and Li resigned a day after.
All four directors cited personal reasons except for Li, who said he was leaving to pursue “other personal development”.
As at 3.02pm, shares in NGSC are trading 50% lower at 0.1 cent.
