SINGAPORE - Singapore-registered Bellagraph Nova (BN) Group, which has been under scrutiny following its sensational bid to take over English Premier League football club Newcastle United, retracted several press releases related to its business on Tuesday (Aug 25).
The releases by the BN Group, co-founded by Singaporeans Terence and Nelson Loh and Canadian Evangeline Shen, were distributed by PR Newswire in the past two months.
One of them, issued on July 10, was titled Welcome To NETX - Global Conglomerate Bellagraph Nova Group Launches Latest Technolgy (sic) Platform Focusing On AI + Robotics + Healthcare.
BN Group said then that NETX "was born" as a result of a "historic" closed-door meeting that its co-founders had with former United States president Barack Obama last December.
Another one titled The New Social Technology Revolution - Panel Discussion With Bellagraph Nova Group Founders And Barack Obama On Their Ambitious Quest To Seize The Opportunity Of A Lifetime In The Post Pandemic World, issued on July 13, was also retracted.
This release claimed that "through one of the BN Group's entities, Bellagraph Jewelry's client relationship management, the King of Saudi Arabia, the King of Qatar, and Queen Mother of Qatar have expressed their interest on investment opportunities and collaborations".
It added: "Through our extensive work with the Obama Foundation charitable initiatives as well as ongoing effort to promote human rights, we have attracted several global companies such as the likes of Citibank, JP Morgan, and other established Global Fortune 500 companies to partner with the BN Group."
A third, on an unrelated topic, and titled Bellagraph Jewelry Launches World's First Male Luxury Jewellery Line Tailored For Power, issued on Aug 10, was similarly withdrawn.
In that release, BN Group claimed that Mr Obama "was seen personally donning one among Bellagraph Jewellery's unique signature 'La Rose' Lapel items that's set in uncommon coloured gem stones".
BN Group said in a note published on PR Newswire that journalists and other readers "should disregard" those releases.
It made global news earlier this month when it submitted a takeover bid for Newcastle.
Over the weekend, the group admitted to Reuters that it had doctored photos of Mr Obama to make them look as if he had attended a meeting with its executives in Paris.
In reality, the photos were taken last December at a charity gala event in Singapore sponsored by Novena Global Lifecare, which was founded by the Loh cousins.
The BN Group website has, since Tuesday morning, become password protected, while the Loh Brothers Foundation - which the Loh cousins established to support local sports groups in muay thai, motorsport, football and basketball - was not accessible on Tuesday night.
