Friday 29 Mar 2024
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KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 21): Versatile Creative Bhd said today it has fired its managing director (MD) Datuk Wong Kong Choong @ Leong Kong Choong and group chief financial officer (CFO) Tan Quok Eow from their employment with immediate effect for failing to satisfactorily answer the allegations made against them in the show-cause letters that were issued to them earlier.

On Aug 13, its board of directors had issued and served the show-cause letters to the duo relating to irregularities in payments amounting to RM2.3 million.

Wong and Tan were given seven days to provide written replies pertaining to the allegations mentioned in the show-cause letters and were suspended for 14 days since Aug 13.

This follows a forensics audit report by Crowe Malaysia that was completed on Aug 8 that found, among others, irregularities in payments amounting to RM2.3 million which were approved by the company’s MD and CFO. The report also found that the MD and CFO could not account for the payments and had failed to provide evidence as to whom the RM2.3 million was paid to.

Crowe Malaysia was appointed by the board to carry out the forensics audit to ascertain the extent of the financial irregularities and the person(s) responsible on July 3, after the board discovered financial irregularities arising from unauthorised payments to third parties between August 2017 and June 2018.

On July 2, Versatile Creative chairman Datuk Lee Kwee Hiang had also lodged a police report over the financial irregularities. Since then, Lee had taken over the role as acting MD and Andy Yap Jee Wye as the acting chief financial controller.

According to Versatile Creative's Annual Report 2017, Wong, 47, was appointed to his current post on Sept 28, 2016. He has over 20 years of entrepreneur experience in advertising, printing and packaging industry.

Versatile Creative said Tan, meanwhile, joined the group as CFO on March 30, 2016. Tan, 43, worked for various listed companies in different industries such as plastic injection moulding, printing, packaging and timber industries like Changhuat Corp Bhd, Komarkcorp Bhd, Denko Industries Corp Bhd and Barama Co Ltd.

Filings with Bursa Malaysia today also revealed that Versatile Creative has announced several boardroom changes including the appointment of its major shareholder Lim Chou Bu’s daughter Lim Siew Yeng, 27, and Khat Chee How, 33, as its executive directors. Former Commissioner of Police Datuk Seri Wira Ayub Yaakob, 64, was also appointed as non-executive director of the company.

Versatile Creative shares were untraded today, It last closed at 42 sen, for a market capitalisation of RM54.21 million.

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