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SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Several directors on Tuesday resigned from a Singaporean firm linked to bidders from the Newcastle United soccer club, the latest hiatus for the bidding group since Reuters reported that doctored photos of Barack Obama were among several suspicious claims that had been made. done.
The resignations of consultancy Axington, owned by Singaporean cousins Terence and Nelson Loh, included its president, Chinese jeweler Evangeline Shen, according to documents filed on the exchange.
The Lohs and Shens are the co-founders of the newly formed Bellagraph Nova Group (BN Group), which said last month it was in advanced talks to buy Newcastle. It has described itself as a “conglomerate” with a turnover last year of $ 12 billion (8.95 billion pounds).
The board’s departures follow the former US ambassador to Singapore’s decision to resign from the company when its share price plunged last week and came as the company said it plans to make “strategic changes” in its “direction. commercial”.
Reuters reported on August 22 that BN Group had admitted to tampering with photos of former US President Obama in marketing materials and had released other information about the group prematurely or by mistake.
Subsequently, local Singaporean media reported further inconsistencies in the claims made on the group’s website, press releases and social media posts, which, according to the firm, “appear to be the result of the actions of certain wandering people “.
Many of those press releases have since been removed, their social media accounts have been deactivated, and a password is now required to view the BN Group website.
In other recent developments, luxury jewelery brand Bulgari has refuted the group’s claims of a business association, and Singapore’s Business Times newspaper reported that some regional investors were trying to withdraw investments from other BN group entities.
BN Group did not immediately respond to a request for comment. He was quoted by the Straits Times newspaper as saying that he will appoint an independent legal counsel to investigate the publication of the marketing material and will not address any other inquiries from the media until the investigations are completed.
The regulatory arm of the Singapore Stock Exchange called last week for an investigation of Axington’s directors “in light of recent events,” shortly before the company postponed a shareholders meeting, saying it needed time to review its plans.
At that meeting, shareholders were to vote to change Axington’s business to medical services and robotics, and change its name to NETX, a firm that BN Group had heavily marketed as one of its entities.
Also among the four resignations on Tuesday was CEO Marjory Loh, Terence Loh’s sister, who cited “recent intense public scrutiny of the company” for resigning, according to documents filed with the Singapore Stock Exchange.
A spokeswoman for Singapore’s corporate regulator ACRA has also said it is taking enforcement action against two other companies linked to Loh for failing to file annual returns.
(Reporting by John Geddie; Editing by Neil Fullick)
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