KLW says S$1m settlement cheque bounced

THE first of three legal settlement payments to Catalist-listed KLW Holdings has failed to go through after the cheque presented for the payment bounced, the company said in a Singapore Exchange filing on Wednesday morning.

On Dec 4, KLW announced that it had received a S$1 million cheque that was only due for clearance on Dec 10. It said it would monitor the clearance of the cheque to decide its next course of action. On Wednesday, KLW said that the cheque was dishonoured upon presentation. KLW is claiming a total of about S$7.8 million from investor Michael Chan Ewe Teik and his company Straitsworld Advisory Limited, for legal costs and the commitment fees paid under an unauthorised term sheet for a property development project in Zhangye Gansu, China.

Mr Chan had appealed against a bankruptcy order filed against him by KLW in February to recover the payments. In the settlement proposal dated Nov 29, he was meant to pay S$1 million by Dec 3, S$1.5 million by Jan 3, and the remaining S$5.3 million by April 7.

In its Wednesday filing, KLW said it is "considering all options available against Mr Chan" and will make further announcements as and when there are any material developments concerning this matter. It advised shareholders and potential investors to exercise caution when dealing with its shares.

KLW shares closed unchanged at 0.6 Singapore cent on Tuesday.