Court gives nod to withdraw bankruptcy applications against Jason Holdings' directors

TWO directors of flooring firm Jason Holdings Limited had bankruptcy applications against them withdrawn on Tuesday.

In a Singapore Exchange filing, the company said that during the Court's hearing for the bankruptcy applications against executive director Sim Choon Joo, and non-executive director Jason Sim Chon Ang, the Court was informed by the lawyers acting for Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited (ANZ) that ANZ has "instructed" for them to withdraw both applications.

The Court then accordingly granted ANZ's leave to withdraw the proceedings against the two parties.

Last August, the Commercial Affairs Department was investigating Mr Jason Sim and the company's subsidiary, Jason Parquet Specialist (Singapore), regarding a possible offence under the penal code.

The Business Times had earlier reported that Mr Jason Sim was interviewed by Singapore's white collar crime investigator on Aug 1, 2016 and ordered to produce documents and information from 2008 to 2016. His travel documents were impounded on Aug 2, 2016.

A report by EY last May highlighted several potential breaches of fiduciary duties in the management and administration of Jason Parquet. EY's findings included deposits and prepayments made by Jason Parquet using trust receipts obtained from banks without underlying goods, accounts receivable financing from different banks obtained using progress claims with identical work values and descriptions at different times, and an improper hire purchase transaction involving a vehicle registered to Mr Jason Sim's spouse.

Shares of Jason Holdings are still suspended.

On Tuesday, Jason Holdings advised shareholders of the company and potential investors to exercise caution when trading in the shares of the company, and should consult their stockbrokers, bank managers, solicitors, or other professional advisers if in doubt of any action to take.