If you’ve thought the oBike saga is long over, you’re not alone. oBike Singapore ghosted the entire nation and oBike users are trying to get back their $49 oBike deposit.
Unfortunately, there’s nothing left to refund users. Game over. GGWP.
Except something happened that bought oBike firmly back into the spotlight.
Here’s The Backstory For Those Who Don’t Know What’s Going On
So previously, oBike suddenly shuts down and owe so much money oBike users likely wouldn’t be able to get back their deposits. The amount owed to oBike users totalled $8.9 million.
And it was revealed that the deposits paid by oBike users were used to buy new bicycles and fund oBike’s operations.
Which is a big no-no, because the deposits should’ve been placed into a separate account to return to consumers.
“The deposit was never intended to be used as prepayment for future services,” CASE said. “As such, the deposit ought to have been placed in a separate account to allow oBike to refund consumers when required. The deposit should not be used to purchase assets and/or fund other operating expenses.
But there’s more. In fact, there’s a twist.
So, it seemed like the classic case of a company folding except there’s one small problem.
$10 million was transferred to oBike Hong Kong before oBike Singapore closed down for good.
In other words, the company allegedly emptied its own funds before shutting down, leaving nothing for creditors to collect.
According to oBike Singapore, the $10 million was transferred to pay back the loan of $11 million the Singapore team previously got from their Hong Kong counterpart.
The police are now investigating oBike for alleged misappropriation of funds.
The company representing the creditors, FTI Consulting, said, “Some of the transactions are inappropriate given the financial position of the company, and we will be looking at those a lot further.”
Workers’ Party’s Non-Constituency Member of Parliament, Dennis Tan, asked if the Commercial Affairs Department (CAD) will investigate oBike Singapore.
Law and Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam confirmed that the police are now looking into the matter.
However, as investigations are ongoing, he was unable to comment on the progress of the case.
However, it was understood that the liquidators are sending a letter of demand to Founder Shi Yi.
They are asking for him to return the money.
Hong Kong Office Previously Offered To Pay Users Back
No, oBike Hong Kong didn’t just sit there and hope everything blows over. They’ve actually offered to pay users who filed for the return of their deposit.
However, FTI Consulting rejected the offer.
According to them, the amount of claims filed is in the hundreds of thousands while the total deposit owed to Singaporean users is $8.9 million.
Which means that only oBike users who’ve filed for claims would be compensated. Like my boss says, if you don’t make noise, you don’t get paid.
Smart move, but hey: Singapore’s smarter.
Here’s a simplified summary of the South Korea martial law that even a 5-year-old would understand:
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