(Sept 16): TEE International appears to have been hit by a scandal. The engineering firm said on Sept 4 that a total of $6.55 million had been remitted from the company to other entities, including those owned by its group CEO Phua Chian Kin, without the board’s knowledge.
The remittances were made between July 2018 and May 2019 and had been repaid in full by Aug 29. The transactions included $3.75 million paid by two subsidiaries to Phua and one Oscar Investment, a British Virgin Islands-incorporated company that is wholly- and beneficially owned by Phua. While the money has been repaid in full, the matter is far from settled. TEE International has hired auditors to identify other unauthorised remittances. It has also appointed Protiviti as an internal auditor to conduct checks on its internal controls systems.
The unauthorised remittances were discovered when Deloitt e, TEE International’s auditor, could not ascertain the nature of $3 million recorded under its “other receivables” account.
