In Aug 2020, local entrepreneurs and cousins Nelson Loh and Terence Loh announced they were planning to buy Newcastle FC, a football club in the English Premier League.
You’d think they were filthy rich, but as more details emerged about the pair, we learned that the opposite was true.
In fact, a couple of months ago, it was revealed that one of them – Terence Loh – was fighting off bankruptcy.
Now, it seems that he has lost that fight.
Man Who Had Wanted to Buy Newcastle FC Declared Bankrupt
Loh, co-founder of Novena Global Healthcare (NGH), was declared bankrupt on Thursday (8 July).
The 43-year-old has total outstanding debts of about S$70 million with five banks from personal guarantees for loans held by NGH.
The five banks are:
- Maybank
- Citibank
- Standard Chartered Bank
- DBS Bank
- UOB Bank
He previously claimed he had a white knight who intended to seek refinancing for a S$24 million loan with DBS Bank, which would have absolved him of his loan and made it more financially viable to repay other creditors.
It was with this assurance that he tried to enter into a voluntary arrangement with his creditors to repay them.
But the white knight never showed up.
His lawyer informed the court last month that his client would not be proceeding with the individual voluntary arrangement.
After being postponed five times, his bankruptcy hearing was finally heard yesterday (8 July), and the bankruptcy order granted by the High Court was uncontested.
Last December, NGH was ordered by the High Court to wind up after failing to pay DBS an outstanding debt of more than S$14 million.
Consequently, Mr Nelson Loh, who acted as a personal guarantor for the DBS loan, was declared bankrupt after he failed to pay DBS.
Mr Nelson Loh’s whereabouts are now unknown.
Scandal After Scandal
If the Bellagraph Nova (BN) group – founded by the Loh cousins and Evangeline Shen – hadn’t tried to purchase Newcastle FC, the Lohs’ offences may never have come to light.
Soon after, they hit the headlines last year, netizens discovered some rather sketchy behaviour.
The first was when the BN group doctored photos of a meeting with Obama.
They also claimed they had enlisted the help of former Newcastle players to support its takeover bid, but this wasn’t the case.
At the time, BN’s website claimed that its headquarters was 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.
Then, the authorities got involved and poop was acquainted with the fan.
It began 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.
As a result, the police launched investigations against Novena Global Healthcare Group.
The scandals prompted the Loh cousins to legally separate all their business interests last October.
Mr Terence Loh then left the BN Group for the hefty price of S$1.
Then, banks started launching legal action against the Lohs after they failed to repay their loans.
Now, that both Lohs have been declared bankrupt, I’m beginning to have doubts about their takeover of Newcastle.
Featured Image: Facebook (Novena Global Lifecare)
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