Hyflux criminal charges: Investors won’t be made whole, but may feel sense of justice being done

LESS than three months after it became clear that nobody responsible for Noble Group’s “incorrect accounting” will face serious consequences, the authorities appear to be taking a tough line on alleged disclosure breaches by Hyflux before the water treatment company ran into financial trouble.

On Nov 17, former Hyflux chief executive Olivia Lum, the company’s former chief financial officer, and four independent directors were charged in court for their various roles in the company’s intentional failure to make required disclosures relating to the Tuaspring Integrated Water and Power Project back in 2011.

Lum was also charged for failing to ensure Hyflux disclosed in its financial statements for 2017 a breach of a loan agreement by a subsidiary involved in a desalination water project in Oman that permitted the lenders to demand accelerated repayment.