Allied Tech reports S$9.9m cash balance, opens escrow account with local bank

PRECISION engineering firm Allied Technologies has S$9.9 million in the kitty as at end-May and is in the midst of opening an escrow account with a local bank, the Catalist-listed firm announced in a bourse filing on Friday.

Allied Tech's current cash holdings stand in sharp contrast to the firm's opening cash balance of S$45.3 million as at May 1. This is mostly due to the S$33.2 million sum pending recovery from law firm JLC Advisors.

JLC managing partner Jeffrey Ong is alleged to have disappeared with the S$33.2 million held in escrow, Allied Tech revealed last month. Mr Ong has since been arrested in Malaysia and was taken back to Singapore on May 30. He is currently in remand and faces a cheating charge related to another firm, CCJ Investments.

The signatories to Allied Tech's new escrow account will be its independent chairman Chin Chee Choon and CEO Leow Wee Kia Clement.

Both Mr Chin and Mr Leow have provided letters of undertaking to the Singapore Exchange (SGX) RegCo not to execute any withdrawal of the escrowed funds, unless prior written approval has been provided by SGX RegCo.

For the month of May, Allied Tech saw cash inflows of S$12.2 million, with S$10.6 million comprising receipts from customers and other receivables.

Cash outflows for the month added up to S$14.5 million, mainly due to S$10.3 million paid to suppliers and S$1.8 million in staff costs and related expenses.

The figures are unaudited and have not been reviewed by Allied Tech's auditors.

"The company is monitoring the situation closely and will take rigorous steps to protect its interests. It will continue to provide further updates to shareholders on subsequent material developments," Allied Tech said in the filing on Friday.

Shares of Allied Tech last traded at S$0.011 on May 2. Trading in the company's shares was halted on May 3, and the counter has been suspended since May 8.