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SINGAPORE – Catalist-listed Starburst Holdings CEO Edward Lim Chin Wah and CEO Yap Tin Foo are released on bail amid an investigation by the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) .
According to the company’s trade presentation around 10 p.m. Sunday night (Nov 15), the CPIB interviewed them last Thursday (Nov 12) regarding Starburst Engineering, a wholly owned subsidiary.
Between the start of trading on November 12 and its close on November 13, Starburst’s stock price fell three cents to 37.5 cents. The stock tumbled Monday after trading began and was down 23.5 cents, or 62.7 percent, to 14 cents at 9.20 a.m.
The CPIB also interviewed the company’s chief financial officer, Wu Guangyi, and senior project manager, Josiah Lawrence Ng Eng Long, according to the document. Ng is also currently out on bail.
Yap’s passport was withheld, while Ng’s passport was requested to be provided on November 16.
“The board wishes to inform that the aforementioned matter is not related to the group’s current projects and, consequently, does not affect the group’s businesses and operations,” the company said in the statement.
“The board cannot provide further details at this time, as the CPIB investigation is ongoing,” he added.
The company also said the board of directors – with Lim and Yap declining – believes that Lim, Yap and Ng should continue with their respective responsibilities and duties in operating the group’s businesses “to ensure business continuity.” The board “will reevaluate its position in due course,” he said.
The Singapore-based company specializes in the design and engineering of firearms training facilities. His clients include law enforcement, military and security agencies, as well as civil authorities in Southeast Asia and the Middle East.
In March, the company announced that Starburst Engineering had secured the group’s largest order to date: a $ 40.9 million contract to build a firearms training facility in Southeast Asia. Starburst Engineering would design, supply, deliver and install the range specialist and associated work for the new facility, which is scheduled for completion in February 2022.
In August, Lim and Yap, who are the majority shareholders of Starburst Holdings, each sold 3.2 million shares, or a total 2.6 percent stake in the company, to a group of investors at 39 cents. The stock was sold at a 7.9% discount to Starburst’s one-day volume-weighted average price of 42.34 cents. Lim and Yap own 35.81 percent and 33.86 percent respectively of the company’s shares, The Edge Singapore reported, citing a Nov. 5 note from UOB Kay Hian.
In its latest October business update, Starburst Holdings reported a third quarter net profit of $ 2.1 million, reversing a net loss of $ 692,000 for the prior year period. The group’s revenue in the three months to Sept. 30 increased 80.5 percent to $ 4.8 million from $ 2.6 million a year ago.
This was primarily due to the initiation of design work for a firearms firing range project and a tactical training mockup project in Southeast Asia, and design and fabrication work for a firearms firing range project in fire in the Middle East, the company said.
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