Singapore-listed conglomerate Yoma Strategic Holdings (Yoma) was questioned by the Singapore Stock Exchange (SGX) on August 19 over allegations made by multiple sources in an Irrawaddy report two days previously.
Yoma responded to the SGX two days later, according to a filing by Yoma to the SGX.
It was the third time the SGX-listed conglomerate was questioned by the SGX since July 10, according to SGX filings from Yoma.
Yoma was also questioned on July 23 by the Securities Investors Association (Singapore) about its annual report for the financial year ending March 31, 2024, according to a response to the questions from the association that Yoma filed with the SGX on July 29.
The latest set of questions from the SGX refer to an August 17 report in The Irrawaddy in which multiple sources alleged that the company’s founder Serge Pun, who stepped down as executive chairman of Yoma Strategic Holdings on July 24, faces charges of money laundering and other financial crimes in Myanmar.
The Irrawaddy report cited sources saying that Pun had been charged with financial crimes in late July in relation to Myanmar’s Yoma Bank, which is not a unit of Yoma Strategic Holdings.
The SGX asked the Singapore-listed company: “Please confirm whether Mr. Serge Pun has been charged during his tenure as a director with the Group, up till his cessation on 24 July 2024.” It was referring to his role at the Singapore-listed company he stepped down from.
Yoma Strategic Holdings replied: “The Company confirms that up until his cessation as the Executive Chairman of the Company on 24 July 2024, no charges had been filed against Mr. Serge Pun.”
Besides limiting the date to July 24, Yoma Strategic added that no charges had been filed: “In respect of his current engagement with the relevant authorities in Myanmar during his tenure as Executive Chairman and a director of the Company [Yoma Strategic Holdings].”
When asked if Serge Pun had been charged in Myanmar after July 24, a representative for Yoma Strategic Holdings, Sylvia Saw McKaige, acknowledged receipt of questions, said her team was working on them, asked what time the answers should be sent by but did not reply..
The company has also denied allegations that funds from online scam centers have been used to fund the expansion of Star City, a point the SGX raised. Yoma Strategic Holdings reiterated a press release issued on August 18, saying that it “categorically denies that criminal proceeds from online scam centers have been used to fund the expansion of Star City [and that the massive real estate project] “in recent years does not require and does not receive any external funding.”
Asked by The Irrawaddy if it was possible that some unit buyers used ill-gotten gains for their purchases, Yoma Strategic Holdings did not answer even though we extended press time by more than two hours waiting for their reply.
