Businessman suing media veterans questions authenticity of share transfer

Before he joined his new employer Mediacorp, Chinese news veteran Chua Chim Kang signed an agreement to transfer his shares in an education company to his business partner, Ms Lee Kuan Fung.

- Selina Lum

But they did not inform the third shareholder of the business about the transfer.

The shareholder is a businessman who has sued Mr Chua and Ms Lee for repayment of a $990,000 loan to the education company.

On Jan 9, in the ongoing High Court trial, the businessman's lawyers questioned the authenticity of the share transfer agreement between Mr Chua and Ms Lee.

Mr Chua is head and chief editor of Chinese news and current affairs at Mediacorp.

He was with the former Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) for 18 years, and last served as chief editor of the now-defunct evening daily Lianhe Wanbao.

Ms Lee was a former associate editor of bilingual news site omy, and headed the Chinese media digital strategy department at the former SPH. She is now a freelancer.

In 2017, Mr Chua, Ms Lee and Mr Ren Xin Wu agreed to set up a company to promote and teach Mandarin.

The trio signed a joint cooperation agreement under which Mr Ren would invest $10,000 in exchange for 35 per cent of the share capital of the company, called Homing Holdings.

Mr Ren, a Canadian national originally from China, also agreed to provide an interest-free loan of $990,000 to the company as working capital for a term of three years.