FOUR of Cordlife Group’s directors and its former group chief executive, Tan Poh Lan, were arrested and released on bail by the Commercial Affairs Department (CAD).
On Friday (Mar 22), the troubled cord-blood bank said this was related to an offence connected to potential breaches of disclosure obligations by Cordlife.
The offence was linked to irregular temperatures of a certain cryogenic storage tank that was first disclosed by the group on Nov 30, 2023.
Its directors who were arrested and are out on bail are acting chairman Ho Choon Hou; independent directors Yeo Hwee Tiong and Titus Cheong; and non-independent, non-executive director Chow Wai Leong.
Cordlife said its chief financial officer Thet Hnin Yi was asked to assist with CAD’s investigations but was not arrested, placed on bail, or charged with any offence to date.
CAD and the Monetary Authority of Singapore have further issued a Mar 19 notice for certain Cordlife directors to attend an Apr 2 interview at CAD’s offices.
These directors – independent director Joseph Wong as well as non-independent, non-executive directors Zhai Lingyun, Chen Xiaoling and Yiu Ming Yiu – are not based in Singapore.
“Given that the current board has been overseeing and providing guidance on the ongoing work undertaken by the company to investigate and address the lapses identified by the Ministry of Health in relation to the company’s Singapore operations, the majority of the board is of the view that it would be in the interests of the company for all directors to continue serving on the board,” said Cordlife.
The group, however, added that Zhai and Chen “disagree that all the directors who have been arrested and released on bail are suitable to remain on the board”.
As it awaits the development of CAD’s investigations, Cordlife said it will continue to consider and access the suitability of all its directors to continue serving on its board.
It will also consider the possibility of appointing new independent directors to “serve as additional checks and balances”.
Shares of Cordlife were down 6.3 per cent or S$0.015 at S$0.225 before a trading halt took effect on Mar 14.
The counter resumes trading on Friday.
