Accrelist says no relationship with other owners of unit linked to probe

ACCRELIST and its subsidiary Jubilee Industries said that they have no relationship with the individuals who own the remaining 30 per cent stake in Honfoong Plastic Industries, which is linked to a probe by the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB), according to the Catalist-listed firms' responses to SGX queries on Thursday morning.

The other owners of Honfoong Plastic Industries are Wong Liang Tong, Wong Liang Yeo and Koh Cheng Poh. Jubilee understands that they started off as apprentices for a company in the injection moulding business, and later set up Honfoong Plastic Industries, which was incorporated about 40 years ago.

Honfoong Plastic Industries is the firm involved in the CPIB probe announced on Tuesday. The investigations relate to certain expenses incurred and a payment the firm made during the Chinese New Year period.

The firm is 70 per cent owned by Jubilee and was acquired in July 2018. Its pre-acquisition management team continues to be involved in managing the business, Jubilee said.

Honfoong Plastic Industries is primarily engaged in plastic injection moulding at its main production plant in Batam, Indonesia.

On Tuesday, Accrelist and Jubilee separately disclosed that Terence Tea, the executive chairman of both firms, was asked to assist with the CPIB probe. Two Jubilee senior management staff were also requested to assist with investigations.

In response to the SGX on Thursday, Jubilee's board did not disclose who the two senior management staff were and said that it was still taking time to deliberate on the response while taking legal advice.

The SGX had asked for the identities of both senior management staff.

Jubilee also did not provide additional details on the investigation, the expenses and payment Honfoong Plastic Industries made, and the basis for saying these were not material, in order to "avoid compromising the confidentiality of the CPIB investigation".

Accrelist shares closed at 4.2 Singapore cents on Wednesday, down 0.3 cent or 6.7 per cent, while Jubilee shares closed flat at five Singapore cents.