PGG Wrightson chair sidelined under cloud of Singapore securities charges

Lee Joo Hai left Singapore before investigations started and was arrested in Malaysia. Photo / Hyflux

PGG Wrightson chair Lee Joo Hai has been sidelined while the rest of his board try to unravel the impact of unrelated securities law charges he faces in Singapore.

Lee took over the chair from Rodger Finlay in June last year, having first joined the board as one of Agria Corp’s representatives in 2017.

Fellow Agria appointee U Kean Seng will chair Wrightson’s board in the interim, with independent director Sarah Brown his deputy. Lee will stay on the board.

Wrightson’s board was first told of the charges last week, saying Lee had been accused of breaching securities regulations relating to disclosures by Singapore-listed Hyflux, of which he was a director.

A statement by the Singapore police on May 5 said Lee had been charged on March 13 with one count of breaching securities law, accusing him of potential lapses in relevant disclosures.

Lee left Singapore before investigations started and was arrested in Malaysia on March 12, with the help of the Royal Malaysia Police.

The NZ company’s directors said they hadn’t changed their preliminary view that the charges were entirely unrelated to Wrightson, that Lee was entitled to be presumed innocent given his intention to defend the charges, that it wouldn’t affect his duties to Wrightson and that he’d update the board on the investigations.

The board said it would also monitor matters and evaluate Lee’s ongoing suitability to remain a Wrightson director.

The Singapore police’s commercial affairs department, Monetary Authority of Singapore, and the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority launched a joint investigation into Hyflux and its directors – both current and former – in June 2020, after a review of the company’s disclosures and auditing standards raised suspicions.

The probe related to disclosures over the S$1 billion-plus (NZ$1.2b) Tuaspring desalination plant that ultimately sank the company.

In November last year, Singaporean police charged former Hyflux chief executive Olivia Lum, chief financial officer Cho Wee Peng and independent directors Teo Kiang Kok, Gay Chee Chong, Christopher Murugasu and Rajskar Kuppuswami Mitta.

The securities and companies law charges related to failing to disclose information about the project when raising S$200m by selling preference shares on the Singaporean exchange.

In May this year, more charges were laid against Lum, and police said Lee had been charged.

Lee had to step into the breach for Wrightson in October 2018, replacing fellow Agria representative Alan Lai, who resigned abruptly after cutting a deal with the US Securities and Exchange Commission to settle accusations of fraudulent accounting and market manipulation.

When the Cushing family’s H&G vehicle bought a small stake, Finlay took over the chair with Lee as his deputy until June last year.