No evidence of conspiracy in couple's bankruptcy, says judge

Ex-directors of education firm claimed others plotted to oust them from business

- Joyce Lim

Two former directors of a private education company, who were declared bankrupt after failing to pay millions owed to creditors, have lost their bid to prove a conspiracy against them.

Mr Balbeer Singh Mangat and his wife Sirgit Gill had accused Mr Jagdish Murli Chanrai, a principal of the Kewalram Chanrai Group, of being the mastermind behind the alleged conspiracy that saw them taking up loans under onerous terms.

Mr Mangat described Kewalram Chanrai Group as a multibillion-dollar family office in Singapore. According to Bloomberg, the group runs businesses in textiles, automobiles, agricultural products and financial services.

Mr Mangat and Madam Gill alleged that Mr Chanrai, a director and shareholder of FTMS, along with two other directors in FTMS as well as FTMS' creditors, orchestrated a scheme to oust them from FTMS Holdings, the now-insolvent company they once led.

FTMS' creditors were Tembusu Growth Fund III, Qualgro and Ace Spring Investments.

FTMS was founded by Mr Mangat, a chartered accountant. It operated and ran education and training campuses through subsidiaries such as FTMSGlobal Academy, and had investments in 10 countries, including Malaysia, Singapore and Sri Lanka.

After a trial lasting more than 40 days from January 2023 to June 2024, the court found no evidence supporting a conspiracy among the defendants to harm the couple.

Mr Mangat and his wife, who have been undischarged bankrupts since Oct 25, 2018, were unrepresented and sought declarations that all eight loan agreements which they entered into with Tembusu and Qualgro were null and void.