Bulgari rubbishes claim it fitted out Bellagraph's Shanghai 'project'

Singapore

THE ill-famed Loh cousins - Nelson and Terence - and their China partner Evangeline Shen have once again been called out, this time by Bulgari, the global luxury brand under LVMH.

On Friday, the exclusive Italian jeweller and timepiece group shot down a claim by the trio that Bulgari is fitting out rooms in a posh Shanghai hospital built by them in the BVLGARI Hotel Shanghai.

"There is no such facility planned" at the Bulgari Hotel Shanghai, said Jenny Cheah, regional managing director of Bulgari South Asia Operations on Friday in response to a query by The Business Times.

She added: "We have no contact or association with the BellaGraph Nova group and any of their related group of companies. The Bulgari group is the exclusive owner of the BULGARI/BVLGARI trademarks and will forcefully defend its rights in the appropriate way".

Exactly a year ago, Novena Global Lifecare, a firm founded by Mr Nelson Loh and his cousin Terence Loh, and Ms Shen's Bellagraph Group, issued a joint press statement describing the fancy US$40 million aesthetics medical facility as being "nestled within the luxurious BVLGARI Hotel Shanghai that is set upon a scenic riverbank, and just minutes from the iconic Bund and Shanghai City Centre".

The statement said the facility is expected to be launched in the fourth quarter of 2020, and claimed "all treatments including doctor consultations will be catered to them (customers) in-suite that will be fitted by the BVLGARI Hotel team with designer treatment beds and apartment luxuries."

And in an interview with BT in June, Mr Nelson Loh gushed: "We are very excited - Terence and myself. We are building China's largest ultra-luxurious anti-ageing hospital in Shanghai... designed by Parisian designer Bruno Moinard. The project is completed."

The Lohs and Ms Shen have been embroiled in scandal following their much-publicised £280 million (S$506.6 million) bid for Newcastle United.

From doctored photographs of former US President Barack Obama in its marketing materials to claims on Instagram - subsequently removed - that BN has a mind-boggling fleet of private jets, the trio and their business vehicles have been hitting the headlines for all the wrong reasons.

During the June BT interview, Mr Nelson Loh had also claimed that Switzerland's Clinique La Prairie will be their "official partner" for the Shanghai "project".

"In the old days, some of the high-end clients have to fly to Montreux (the Swiss clinic's main home) for their quarterly anti-aging treatment. With what's going on in the world today, we have to bring the service closer to home," he added.

"We are working with a strategic partner in China who caters to the higher echelons. We will provide the medical technology know-how and they will provide the database for their luxury (client) pool. It will be a new client segment - a win-win," he continued.

As it turned out, very little seems to be winsome lately with Bellagraph Nova (BN), the firm co-founded by the cousins and Ms Shen, that is bidding for one of England's most high profile football clubs.

BN's assertion that "certain errant individuals" were responsible for the controversial marketing materials and that it plans to hire legal counsel to investigate the controversy merely added to the bewilderment.

Separately, BT has discovered that two entities linked to the Lohs may have run foul of the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority's (Acra) filing requirements.

The entities - Novena Global Healthcare Pte Ltd and Novena Life Sciences Pte Ltd, which were set up in 2016 and 2018 respectively, have both not filed Annual Returns (ARs), which include financial statements, since they were incorporated.

In response to BT queries, an Acra spokesperson said that both companies are required to file ARs and that enforcement action will be taken against them.

Companies are required to file their ARs under Section 197 of the Companies Act. Those who file their AR late have to pay a late filing penalty, while those who fail to file AR will be subject to Acra's enforcement actions, including prosecution in court, the spokesperson added. If convicted, the offence carries a maximum fine of S$5,000. For companies with multiple breaches, Acra may seek higher court fines.

Based on filings, Novena Global Healthcare which has a paid-up capital of over S$26 million, counts the Lohs as directors. Novena Life Sciences, with a paid-up capital of S$423,001, lists Novena Global Healthcare and several other foreign entities as its shareholders while its directors are Mr Terence Loh and his sister Marjory Loh. Ms Marjory is the executive director of Catalist-listed Axington Inc, another firm that is under the spotlight. The Lohs emerged with a supermajority stake in Axington in July following a mandatory offer after they agreed to buy out the previous controlling owners. Ms Shen is Axington's non-independent non-executive chairman.

On Friday, Axington announced that Thursday's extraordinary general meeting (EGM) had been postponed. The company had proposed a name change to NETX, a change of its core business, the acquisition of Vesta Apex Trading, and the issue of new shares as part payment for the acquisition.

In the announcement, Axington's board said: "In light of recent developments in the media, the board is of the view that it requires more time to conduct an internal assessment of the circumstances and the strategic plans of the company moving forward."

Mak Yuen Teen of NUS Business School remarked: "It is absolutely necessary for the EGM to be adjourned given the amount of new information that has emerged over the past week and continue to emerge. The deadline for registering to attend the virtual EGM, send in questions and vote was Aug 24 and some may have voted earlier.

"Shareholders may not support the resolutions in light of the new information. The company had also called a trading halt and one of the IDs had also resigned in light of recent events, and the character and integrity of the chairperson has been called into question, all casting a further shadow on the merits of the resolutions".

Over the eventful week, the Singapore Exchange Regulation (SGX RegCo) said it 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.

BT's multiple queries to Novus on the matter have drawn a blank. Separately, Axington also confirmed that its independent director Kirk Wagar, former US ambassador to Singapore, had resigned. Mr Wagar has "urged more transparency in view of the recent revelations and development", the announcement said.