Back in Aug, the Bellagraph Nova (BN) group announced it was working out details of an acquisition with English Premier League (EPL) Club Newcastle United.
This excited Singaporean football fans as two of its founders – cousins Nelson Loh and Terence Loh – were locals.
But then things took a left turn.
Sketchy details about the company starting surfacing, including a doctored photo with former US president Barack Obama and questionable claims made for publicity purposes.
Then, Ernst & Young filed a report against Novena Global Healthcare Group, another company owned by the Loh cousins, prompting an investigation from the authorities.
If the Loh cousins thought that was bad for business, they’re not going to like what’s about to happen next.
ACRA Now Looking Into Other Companies by Loh Cousins; They Had Registered 10 Companies This Year
The Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (Acra) said it will be looking into all registered entities linked to the Loh cousins, according to ST.
Acra had found that Novena Global Healthcare and Novena Life Sciences – both owned by the Lohs – had failed to file the annual returns due on 29 July, 2018 and 9 Dec last year.
As a result, Acra might take action against the two companies, which could include imposing a fine or even prosecution.
“Acra is also looking into other related registered entities on their obligations to hold annual general meetings (AGM) and file annual returns (AR)”, a spokseman said.
A check by ST found that over 20 companies had been registered to an office in Novena Gardens, which belongs to the Lohs.
The cousins registered 10 companies in 2020 alone, including the now-notorious BN group, which they co-founded with their Chinese business partner Evangeline Shen.
Sketchy Behaviour
For those who aren’t aware of the controversy surrounding BN group, here’s a recap of what happened.
It all started when the group doctored photos of a meeting with Obama, something they later admitted to.
While Shen did meet Obama at a charity event in Singapore last year, the group doctored the photo to make it look as though Obama had attended a meeting with BN’s co-founders in Paris.
BN group also claimed it had enlisted the help of former players Alan Shearer and Michael Chopra to supports its bid for Newcastle, something which would have pleased Newcastle fans, as Shearer is the club’s biggest legend and all-time top scorer.
But the Telegraph reported that “sources close to the Newcastle and Premier League legend (Shearer)… denied any involvement with BNG”.
BN’s website also claimed that its headquarters is at the “renowned No. 10 Place Vendome in Paris, France”, a fancy place with many high-end boutiques.
However, Reuters reported that it couldn’t find any company of the same name at the address.
Moreover, it said there isn’t a company called Bellagraph Nova Group registered in France.
The group made other questionable claims as well, such as saying they possessed a fleet of 10,000 private jets and that they were in “direct contact” with Cristiano Ronaldo and planned to sign him.
Unauthoried Signatures
Things came to a head when professional services network Ernst and Young lodged a police report against Novena Global Healthcare Group over unauthorised signatures on the group’s financial statements.
The company claims it was falsely listed as auditors.
“Ernst & Young LLP were the auditors of Novena Global Healthcare Pte Ltd (a Singapore incorporated company), a subsidiary of Novena Global Healthcare Group, for the financial year ended Dec 31, 2017,” said a spokesperson.
“We were not appointed as auditors of and did not sign off on the financial statements of Novena Global Healthcare Pte Ltd for any subsequent years.”
Terence Loh, however, has denied any wrongdoing.
Whether or not these claims are true remains to be seen. A bigger mystery, though, is why all three founders of the group look like wax statues in a picture on their official site.
There is nothing normal about this group.
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