Tycoon Oei Hong Leong further sells stakes in Raffles Education; now owns less than 1%

BILLIONAIRE Oei Hong Leong cut his stake in Raffles Education to 0.78 per cent on Oct 25, amid an ongoing spat with the founder of the mainboard-listed private education service provider.

This move follows his selling down from a stake of 10.16 per cent to 7.34 per cent on Oct 18. That sank the shares down to a then 52-week low to S$0.061. The counter shed 0.4 cent to a low of S$0.059 on Oct 26.

In spite of being against the firm's founder and chief executive Chew Hua Seng in recent years, Oei had been Raffles Education's substantial shareholder.

But his disputes with Chew burst into the public arena in recent weeks over certain issues which he alleged Raffles Education has fallen short, including the salaries it paid to Chew and his family members working at the firm.

Several directors are now under investigation over the two-month lag in the firm's disclosure of Malaysia's Affin Bank's lawsuit filed in May against Raffles Education's Malaysian units for immediate repayment of RM410 million (S$133 million).