Terence Loh distances himself from cousin and Evangeline Shen

Singapore

THE heat on the two Loh cousins amid a police probe into allegedly forged accounts appears to have driven a wedge between one of them and business partner Evangeline Shen, pushing the long-time chums into parting ways on Monday.

The split between the cousins has been formalised - Terence and Nelson Loh have inked a "mutually agreed and legally binding" agreement to separate their business interests from each other.

Breaking his silence for the first time since the saga erupted over a £280 million (S$506.6 million) bid for Newcastle United football club in August by Bellagraph Nova Group (BN Group), Terence Loh said on Wednesday that the agreement to part ways is only between him and his cousin.

He told The Business Times: "Nelson and I are first cousins and have been business partners for 12 years ... the business relationship with Evangeline was conducted primarily through Nelson."

He added: "I am shocked and deeply disappointed by the various media statements made by the BN Group recently."

The legal agreement the pair signed effectively ends a partnership that began in 2008. Since then, they have co-founded several businesses in the medical, wellness and aesthethics sectors.

In July, they bought out Catalist-listed Axington Inc, a move that once held sweet promise for them, but has become part of their undoing.

The BN Group and Ms Shen (also known as Shen Che) came into the picture only at around the time of the Axington takeover, following a merger between the Lohs' private vehicle Dorr Group and Ms Shen's Bellagraph.

Under the agreement, Mr Terence Loh will transfer all his shares in the Singapore-incorporated Bellagraph Nova Pte Ltd (BN Sg) to Mr Nelson Loh for S$1 and step down as the firm's director.

On his role in this firm, Mr Terence Loh said: "I wasn't given a specific role. While I am listed as a co-founder of BN Sg, I am not aware of the entities of the Bellagraph Nova Group. I am therefore unable to confirm the veracity of the claims contained in its marketing materials, including the claim that it has 31 entities, US$12 billion in revenue in 2019 and 23,000 employees."

The claims by BN Group - led chiefly by Ms Shen - have drawn scrutiny, more so after it was called out on some of its assertions - including its doctored photos of former US President Barack Obama in its marketing kit.

As for Mr Nelson - whose whereabouts are unknown, although BT understands he may be in China - he is set to transfer all his shares in three entities to his cousin for S$1, and then resign as their director under the agreement between the cousins. The firms are the Singapore-registered Dorr Global Healthcare International Pte Ltd and Rock Star Advisors Pte Ltd, and the Cayman Islands-registered Novena Global Healthcare Group (NGHG).

NGHG, co-founded by the duo, has been in the limelight since "Big Four" accounting firm Ernst & Young filed a police report last month, saying its unauthorised signatures had appeared on NGHG's financial statements. Singapore's Commercial Affairs Department (CAD) is probing the matter.

Mr Terence Loh says he has been assisting the police since Sept 23. He declined further comment as the matter is under investigation.

When contacted, a spokesperson for Singapore Police Force declined comment on the same grounds.

It is believed that Mr Terence has hired K&L Gates Straits Law as his legal advisor.

The growing friction between Mr Terence and Ms Shen's BN Group surfaced in public after the BN Group issued a statement in the wee hours of Wednesday, where it outrightly attempted to distance itself from both Mr Terence and NGHG.

The statement said: "BN Group delinks from Terence Loh per Novena Global Healthcare's fake financial statements incident.

"Novena Global Healthcare is not part of Bellagraph Nova Group because we had not completed the merger before the (alleged) forgery news came out. BN group has never consolidated or is by any chance linked to Novena Global Healthcare and its (allegedly) forged financial statements.

"We also understand that Mr Terence Loh is trying to solve the problems (at NGHG). So, we have mutually agreed that he should resign from BN group."

Mr Terence Loh, reacting to this, stressed: "I unequivocally state that I was not involved in the forgery. I have remained in Singapore and continue to be available to assist the CAD."

He said that he was not informed beforehand about the statement that was issued by BN Group, nor of its plan to continue to bid for the English Premier League football club.

Last Friday, Ms Shen told the BBC that BN Group was still intent on buying the club, and that it was "still very aggressive on trying to close the deal".

Evidently, Mr Terence Loh wants nothing to do with the plan. His separation agreement with Mr Nelson Loh states that he is not involved in any of BN Sg's business decisions; it also states, oddly enough, that his views as a director were not sought before Ms Shen's recent comments on the bid.

It has been downhill for the ambitious Singaporean businessmen over the past two months.

Against the mounting fallout in credibility, edgy investors have been wanting to pull out millions of dollars invested in the cousins' entities.

Last week, members of the board of NGHG (excluding the duo) - rattled by the allegations of forged financial statements - took matters into their own hands and set up a special committee to investigate, restructure and scrutinise the company's affairs.

On top of all this, Singapore's Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (Acra) has signalled possible enforcement action against the Lohs for flouting certain requirements.

The fate of Axington continues to remain uncertain following the enmasse resignation of its board, including its chairman Ms Shen. Trading in the counter remains suspended.

A lot more could unravel, as Mr Terence Loh's remarks on Wednesday suggest. He said: "The role that others have played in the current difficulties will become, in due course, clear."