Jeffrey Ong has been contacting firms to tender resignation even as he remains incommunicado

WHILE JLC Advisors' managing partner Jeffrey Ong Su Aun remains incommunicado, the 42-year-old lawyer at the centre of the Allied Technologies' missing S$33 million escrow fund saga has been actively contacting companies where he was holding a board seat to resign from directorship.

Mr Ong has resigned with effect from May 20 as an independent non-executive director at Hong Kong-listed CW Group Holdings, giving the reason that he wishes "to devote more time to his personal affairs". The precision engineering and renewable energy solutions provider headquartered in Singapore did not state the manner Mr Ong tendered his resignation.

This came days after Catalist-listed Annica Holdings' announcement on May 22 that Mr Ong had quit on May 20, tendering his resignation - via email - as acting non-executive chairman and independent director from the company with immediate effect. He cited "personal reasons" for his sudden resignation.

A later filing by Annica on May 24 clarified that it was not aware of the developments at Allied Tech. According to the filing, Mr Ong holds 81.9 million shares in Annica, whose closing price was flat at 0.1 Singapore cent last Friday.

Meanwhile, JLC Advisors' salaried partner Karen Pok Mee Yau and an independent director at Allied Tech, has been told - along with two other directors - to recuse from all decisions and recommendations of Allied Tech's board. Ms Pok and executive director Kenneth Low Si Ren and independent director Lim Jin Wei are also not to act as signatory to the accounts of the Allied Tech group.

This was announced in a regulatory filing by Allied Tech on May 25, citing conflict of interest for these decisions of the nominating committee.

Mr Lim has been a signatory to the escrow account with JLC Advisors since it was established, while Mr Low was involved in transactions relating to Asia Box Office - an event ticketing solutions provider Allied Tech acquired in April 2018 - and Platform Capital Asia (Singapore). The company did not elaborate why the Asia Box Office and Platform Capital Asia (Singapore) transactions have anything to do with the recusal decision.

Allied Tech has also made a police report against JLC Advisors and Mr Ong on May 24 over "potential offences committed". The company was notified by JLC Advisors on May 22 afternoon that the funds of some S$33 million it held with JLC Advisors have been paid out from the escrow account, and JLC Advisors has reasons to believe they were paid out on the instructions of Mr Ong and might have been unauthorised.