2 directors of different firms allegedly worked together to misappropriate $14m

SINGAPORE - Two directors of different firms appeared in a district court on Friday (Sept 17) as they are said to have engaged in a conspiracy to misappropriate cash totalling $14 million.

According to court documents, the two Singaporeans are Lee Boon Teck, 54, and Chan Ewe Teik, 56.

Chan, who is known as Michael ET Chan on the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority's database, is accused of two counts of criminal breach of trust linked to the $14 million.

Lee faces 12 charges, including three counts of criminal breach of trust.

Two of these charges involve the $14 million he allegedly worked with Chan to misappropriate.

By himself, Lee allegedly misappropriated another $2.2 million.

At the time of the alleged offences, Lee was the managing director of Catalist-listed company KLW Holdings, which is now known as HS Optimus Holdings.

He was also a director at a firm called Ambertree, a wholly-owned subsidiary of KLW Holdings.

He is no longer holding these positions at the two firms.

Lee is said to have misappropriated $16.2 million in total from the two companies' bank accounts by authorising payments to a firm called Straitsworld Advisory.

According to earlier court documents, Straitsworld Advisory was a company incorporated in the British Virgin Islands with Chan as its sole director and shareholder.

Locally, Chan is currently a director at three firms - Fort Sentosa International, Happyland World and Sovran White (Singapore) International Logistics.

These three firms were not named in court documents.

In April 2014, Lee was a director at Ambertree, which deals with wooden products, when he allegedly misappropriated $2.2 million from one of its bank accounts by authorising a payment for the amount to Straitsworld Advisory.

He is accused of engaging in a conspiracy with Chan to commit a similar offence the following month.

The two men allegedly worked together to misappropriate $7 million from a second bank account owned by Ambertree by authorising payments for the amount to Straitsworld Advisory.

The pair are accused of engaging in a conspiracy to misappropriate monies again in June 2014.

On that occasion, they allegedly worked together to misappropriate $7million from KLW Holding's bank account by authorising payments for the amount to Straitsworld Advisory.

Besides three counts of criminal breach of trust, Lee, who is now a director at a firm called HP Global, also faces nine other charges.

These include three counts of falsification of accounts and one count of using a forged document as genuine.

HP Global was not named in court documents.

Each man was offered bail of $150,000 on Friday and their cases have been adjourned to Oct 14.

For each count of criminal breach of trust, an offender can be jailed for up to 15 years and fined.

If convicted of falsification of accounts, Lee can be jailed for up to 10 years and fined for each charge.

Those convicted of using a forged document as genuine can be jailed for up to four years and fined.