Vibrant Group unaware of ex-CEO's dismissed appeal, 13-month jail term

The company had earlier announced that Eric Khua resigned due to health reasons.

Vibrant Group Limited said its board was unaware that the criminal appeal of former executive director and CEO Eric Khua had been dismissed when it accepted his resignation and announced his cessation, according to a filing dated 2 March.

The board had only become aware of the appeal outcome after receiving queries and reviewing the High Court’s published grounds of decision, the company said in response to queries from the Securities Investors Association (Singapore) dated 27 February.

The court’s written judgment stated that Khua’s appeal against his conviction was dismissed and his 13-month custodial sentence upheld.

The company said it was not a party to Khua’s personal criminal proceedings and was not privy to the court schedule or delivery of the judgment.

It added that it was therefore not in a position to state when Khua first learned of the outcome of his appeal or whether an oral judgment had been delivered in his presence.

The company had earlier announced on 16 February that Khua resigned with immediate effect, citing “health reasons”. According to the group, Khua submitted his resignation letter on 13 February.

The nominating committee met with him on 14 February to confirm the reason for his resignation and whether any other matters required disclosure. Khua reaffirmed the reason stated in his letter and said there were no additional matters.

The board said it relied on Khua’s written resignation and his representations at the meeting in preparing the cessation announcement.

It reiterated that the former CEO’s conviction relates to a personal matter that did not involve the company’s or the group’s business, transactions or funds, and that the offence did not involve fraud or dishonesty.