Court accepts JTA petition to rehab GL
The Central Bankruptcy Court has accepted J Trust Asia Pte Ltd’s (JTA) petition requesting business rehabilitation of Group Lease Plc (GL), but Group Lease has insisted its business operations remain intact.
On Jan 11, the court accepted a petition requesting the rehabilitation of Group Lease as submitted by JTA.
Group Lease later received the petition on Jan 19 and the court has scheduled a petition examination on March 19.
“The company is unable to perform its obligations to its creditors, unless they are considered trade creditors or operate in the ordinary course of business, after the court accepted J Trust’s petition,” said Group Lease in its statement.
“However, the company is not insolvent and operations [can] continue as normal.”
Group Lease submitted a petition to the court on Feb 16 to request protection for the interests of investors and shareholders.
On the same day, the court granted the company permission to repay interest under debentures issued by the company pursuant to the existing terms and conditions, including the execution of relevant documents in relation to such matters.
The actions are deemed necessary for the management of the company’s funds to carry out business operations without the court’s approval.
Group Lease has reiterated it is not insolvent as its assets amount to 13.8 billion baht, while its liabilities are valued at 8.6 billion.
“In addition, the company can operate its business as usual in accordance with the laws, rules and regulations, including good corporate governance guidelines,” said the statement.
JTA initiated legal proceedings against Group Lease Holdings Pte Ltd (GLH), GL’s wholly-owned subsidiary registered in Singapore, and other companies based on the allegation that GLH and other defendants defrauded JTA to invest US$180 million (5.65 billion baht) in GL.
JTA published an online statement on Jan 12 indicating the company’s intention to cancel its investment in convertible debentures of GL worth $180 million.
GL has denied all allegations, saying the company has not received any writs of summons, copies of the complaint, petitions for business rehabilitation, or documents from the courts, the Department of Special Investigation (DSI), or the Economic Crime Suppression Division.
GL’s share price has fallen drastically amid the ongoing regulatory scandal. GL is a digital finance company specialising in hirepurchase for Japanese motorcycle brands.
On Oct 16, the Securities and Exchange Commission filed a criminal complaint against Mr Konoshita with the DSI.