YuuZoo gives EY until May 18 to answer 79 questions on draft report; releases 3 findings from executive summary

YUUZOO Corporation said it is giving independent reviewer Ernst & Young Advisory (EY) a May 18 deadline to respond to the the beleaguered online media company's 79 questions about EY's draft report.

If EY does not meet the deadline, YuuZoo "is contemplating appropriate action, including but not limited to legal recourse", the company in the middle of a police probe said. It is appointing "a leading US-based law firm" to advise on the possible legal action.

YuuZoo said that it had sent several reminders about the questions to no response ever since YuuZoo's April 10 announcement claiming "inaccurate or misleading" statements in the draft report.

It also said that it is asking the Singapore Exchange (SGX) for an "urgent meeting" to "discuss the best way forward" to give SGX answers to five questions SGX wanted included in the scope of the independent review in 2017.

In a separate announcement, YuuZoo also released three of the four findings from the executive summary of an interim report by EY.

The first was regarding the question of whether YuuZoo informed Singapore Exchange (SGX) about a lawsuit filed in the United States Court Southern District of New York, USA on 22 July 2015 by Hecklerco LLC, James Heckler and Andrew Heckler.

"YuuZoo first responded to SGX about the New York lawsuit on 6 January 2017 after SGX had enquired about the same in an email dated 30 December 2016," said YuuZoo. "SGX did not ask YuuZoo to make a public announcement, and instead asked YuuZoo to determine if the New York Lawsuit warranted an announcement on SGXNet."

The second finding pertained to whether YuuZoo has taken action to recover S$6.5million it is owed by Infocomm Asia Holdings (IAH).

YuuZoo said in the announcement that the most recent settlement agreement with IAH in April 2017 is in draft and has not been signed by either party. YuuZoo has collected US$ 1.007 million (S$1.459 million) of the receivables outstanding as of November 2014. Negotiations are ongoing for the rest, as informed by YuuZoo on Dec 8, 2017.

The third was the issue of Macquarie Capital's appointment of compliance adviser at YuuZoo's listing and the circumstances surrounding YuuZoo's right to replace them.

The appointment of Macquarie as compliance advisor was a condition imposed by SGX, and YuuZoo asked for the right to replace them in December 2014 and March 2015 because of "inexperience and charges in excess of market rates".

In October 2015, SGX approved YuuZoo's appointment of RHT Capital in place of Macquarie.