Bellagraph pulls statement after Obama photo scandal; Axington shares fall again

BELLAGRAPH Nova Group (BN Group), which is linked to Catalist-listed Axington, has withdrawn a press statement issued more than a month ago relating to a purported private meeting with former US president Barack Obama.

The retraction came shortly after BN Group admitted to doctoring photos of Mr Obama in marketing materials used to publicise the newly formed group.

Singapore-registered BN Group said in a note published on PR Newswire on Tuesday morning that "journalists and other readers should disregard" its statement issued on July 10.

In the statement, which has since been removed from PR Newswire's website, BN Group had announced the launch of its NETX division, which would focus on artificial intelligence (AI), robotics and healthcare.

It claimed then that NETX "was born" as a result of a "historic" closed-door meeting that BN Group's founders - Terence Loh, Nelson Loh and Evangeline Shen Che - had with Mr Obama last December to discuss how technology will bring about the next industrial revolution.

The Singaporean Loh cousins are Axington's controlling shareholders via Dorr Global Healthcare. Ms Shen, a Chinese jewellery merchant, is the non-independent, non-executive chairman of professional advisory services firm Axington.

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On July 28, Axington, formerly known as Axcelasia, proposed a second name change to NETX. It was also looking to change its core business to provide medical and consumer wellness services as well as to invest in medical technology, robotics and AI in that space. This came after Dorr's offer to buy out Axington closed on July 13 with the Lohs' private vehicle owning 92.5 per cent of the Catalist-listed firm.

In BN Group's retracted July 10 statement, the three founders were said to be "greatly inspired" by Mr Obama's vision after their meeting.

The statement also featured a photo purporting to portray the Lohs, Ms Shen and Mr Obama together, with the caption stating that the four of them were "having an engaging discussion on how BN Group wants to harness technology to benefit mankind".

In addition, the statement attributed a quote to the former president, without specifying when he said it: "What we're seeing here is the way that technology is changing not just how you do business, not just how you buy products, but also how you interact, how you organise politically, how you get involved in the community and how you solve problems. And all of that can support millions of new jobs."

Over the weekend, Reuters reported that BN Group's head of investor relations, Nereides Antonio Giamundo de Bourbon, acknowledged the company had altered photos of Mr Obama to make it look as though he attended a meeting with its executives in Paris.

Mr Bourbon also told Reuters that some of the information in the company's marketing materials was released prematurely or contained errors, after Reuters found inconsistencies when speaking to firms and persons BN Group said it was involved with.

BN Group grabbed headlines last week when it announced it held talks to take over English football club Newcastle United. Some of the doubts raised over the group's claims were also related to this takeover bid, Reuters reported.

The Singapore Exchange Regulation (SGX RegCo) has "engaged" Novus Corporate Finance, the continuing sponsor of Axington, over how it has assessed the "experience, expertise, character and integrity" of chairman Ms Shen.

SGX RegCo said on Monday night that it expects a response from Novus soon. The Business Times has reached out to the sponsor for comment.

Shares of Axington slid further on Tuesday to trade at S$0.19 as at 2.45pm, down S$0.03 or 13.6 per cent.

On Monday, the stock fell nearly 22 per cent at the start of trading, but recovered to finish the day 2.2 per cent lower at S$0.22, as investors reacted to the Reuters article on BN Group.