Meta Health awarded S$1.4 million in suit against subsidiary’s former executive
META Health has been awarded S$1.4 million in damages and costs amid its ongoing lawsuit against a former executive of its subsidiary.
Of that sum, about S$1.3 million will be payable with interest at 5.33 per cent per annum from the date the originating claim was filed.
Legal proceedings opened on May 17 this year against Vasanthan Metupalle, the former chief medical officer of Meta’s subsidiary, 5Digital, along with other entities that are not part of Meta Health.
These entities include 1Life Healthcare and Aventres Enterprise.
Together with Dr Vasanthan, they were purportedly involved in deceiving the group through “alleged irregularities” in sale transactions of another Meta Health subsidiary, Gainhealth.
Dr Vasanthan owns 1Life Healthcare as its sole shareholder and director. On LinkedIn, he is listed as the company’s group chief investment officer, a role he has held since June 2023. Aventres Enterprise is owned and controlled by an individual allegedly related to him.
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Meta Health on Friday (Sep 15) said Gainhealth and 5Digital have obtained judgment against 1Life Healthcare and Aventres Enterprise for their respective failures to file notice of intention to contest, or not contest, Meta’s lawsuit.
The group said it is seeking legal advice on the appropriate action to take – including the enforcement of these judgments against both companies – as the suit continues against the remaining entities, including Dr Vasanthan.
“The board wishes to reiterate that as at the date of this announcement, in their reasonable opinion, the irregularities and the financial impact of the suit remain confined to the group’s subsidiaries under the healthcare business as initially discovered.”
Shares of Meta Health were trading unchanged at S$0.009 as at 1.15 pm on Friday, after the update.
Early this year, Meta Health announced that customers of Gainhealth had filed police reports in March regarding the “alleged irregularities”.
The group lodged its own police report in April, and said its board determined that Dr Vasanthan was “suspected of deceiving and/or seeking to deceive” the company and its subsidiaries.
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