Man Who Wanted to Buy Newcastle FC Has $70M Debt & is Reportedly Fighting Off Bankruptcy

Have you heard of the Streisand effect?

It occurs when someone’s attempt to hide, remove, or censor information inadvertently leads to further dissemination of that information.

It was named after American singer and actress Barbra Streisand, who tried to suppress a photograph of her residence in California, but ended up drawing further attention to it.

Similarly, when a pair of cousins announced that they were planning to buy Newcastle United, a football club, people obviously took notice, thinking they must be filthy rich.

But it turned out to be the opposite.

Man Who Wanted to Buy Newcastle FC Has $70M Debt & is Reportedly Fighting Off Bankruptcy

Terence Loh, one of the co-founders of the now infamous Bellagraph Nova (BN) Group who wanted to purchase Newcastle, is now fighting off bankruptcy.

According to The Straits Times, the 43-year-old has debts of about $70 million with five banks, including Maybank, Citibank, Standard Chartered Bank, DBS Bank, and UOB Bank.

Mr Loh secured the loans with a personal guarantee from Novena Global Healthcare (NGH), which he also co-founded with his cousin, Nelson Loh.

Now, Mr Loh has applied for an interim order which would put off all legal action, including bankruptcy proceedings, while he works out a voluntary arrangement with his creditors to repay them.

This proposal has to be accepted by the five banks, however, as it would otherwise lead to the court discharging it.

If they accept it, the High Court will appoint a nominee to execute the proposal.

Maybank launched bankruptcy proceedings against Mr Loh last November after he failed to pay his debt of $3 million.

Mr Loh’s company was also ordered by the High Court last December to wind up after failing to pay DBS an outstanding debt of over $14 million.

Mr Nelson Loh, 41, who acted as a personal guarantor for the DBS loan, was declared a bankrupt after he failed to pay DBS.

Scandal After Scandal

For those who aren’t aware of the controversy surrounding BN group, here’s a recap of what happened.

The Loh cousins first hit the headlines last August with a £280 million (S$517 million) bid for English Premier League football club Newcastle United.

But when netizens and the authorities did some digging, they discovered some rather sketchy behaviour.

The first was when the 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.

And this was when ah, poop got acquainted with the fan, in less crude terms.

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.

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.

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 left the BN Group for the hefty price of $1.

As part of the agreement, Nelson Loh transferred all the shares he owns in three of their corporate entities to his cousin.

These entities are Novena Global Healthcare Group and all its subsidiaries, Dorr Global Healthcare International, and Rock Star Advisors.

Feature Image: charnsitr / Shutterstock.com