Disagreement between Vibrant’s Khua and KTL’s Tan involved dealings of S$2.4 million

KHUA Kian Keong, chief executive of mainboard-listed logistics company Vibrant Group, had three dealings totalling some S$2.4 million with Tan Tock Tan, former executive chairman of KTL Global, a court heard on Monday (Mar 20).

Khua, 54, is facing charges in court for allegedly pushing Tan down some stairs. As a result of the fall, Tan suffered a fracture to his right shoulder. 

In a hearing, Khua said his first dealing with Tan was in December 2014 for the purchase of three million shares in KTL Global for S$396,000. The second transaction was in March 2015 for seven million shares at a total of S$1.106 million, while the third took place a month later for the acquisition of 5.5 million shares for S$933,800.

According to Khua, the first two transactions were married deals. These were suggested and arranged by Wilson Tan Kheng Yeow, the former KTL Global CEO and Tan’s elder son.

Wilson Tan had approached Khua for financial assistance with a verbal agreement to pay him back after three months, Khua said.

Khua claimed KTL Global had also signed a subscription agreement with Infinity Global Consultancy. When the latter was unable to fulfil its contractual obligations, Khua said KTL Global turned to him for funds instead.

The alleged incident on the stairs took place on Jan 13, 2021, at the staircase leading from Level 2 to Level 1 at 7 Gul Road. Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority filings list 7 Gul Road as the registered address of KTL Offshore, of which Tan is a director.

Khua allegedly visited Tan at KTL Offshore’s office with the purpose of resolving the matter of the S$2.4 million debt. He told the court that he wanted Tan to first return him S$100,000 – a portion of the total sum owed – as a gesture of goodwill.

In Monday’s hearing, Khua said he was attempting to pull Tan back from falling but failed to do so.

Khua later sent KTL Global a letter of demand on Mar 19, 2021, claiming the sum for the third transaction. The court on Mar 13 ordered KTL GLobal to pay Khua the full amount.

Khua had also filed two separate lawsuits against Wilson Tan and Jonathan Tan, Tan’s younger son, but the three entered a settlement agreement in November 2022.

Khua’s defence counsel are Senior Counsel Sreenivasan Narayanan and lawyer Selvarajan Balamurugan.

The hearing has been adjourned to Tuesday (Mar 21) at 9.30 am. 

Shares of Vibrant Group closed unchanged at S$0.079 on Monday.