SINGAPORE — Multi-Chem did not just sell off — the Singapore Exchange had to hit the brakes.
The mainboard-listed IT distributor closed Friday 38.7% lower at S$2.66, after a morning plunge of more than 40%, or S$1.84, to S$2.50 that triggered SGX’s circuit-breaker — a 10% price band and a five-minute cooling-off period — according to The Business Times.
The catalyst was a Thursday (Sep 17) filing: CEO Foo Suan Sai, COO Han Juat Hoon, and two senior sales employees were interviewed by the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB). Two of the company’s executive directors were asked to post bail and hand over their passports and mobile phones.
CPIB officers also visited the group’s premises and seized documents, including certain financial accounts spanning an earlier year to the present, employee-claim papers involving group personnel and a vendor individual, and an agreement tied to the same vendor.
The audit and risk-management committee — the independent directors — said it was informed by Han and is not directly privy to the CPIB matter. Committee member Steven Chong, speaking for the ARMC, said the panel is “currently seeking further information from the executive directors relating to the interviews, substance of the investigations and other actions taken by the CPIB.”
Bottom line: A −38.7% close with a circuit-breaker print is the market’s verdict for now — the open questions sit with bail, passports, and whatever those seized vendor and claims files show.
— WWC NEWSDESK
