UOB to sue ex-CEO of Yang Kee Logistics, TOC & its editor over 'defamatory' allegations

The United Overseas Bank (UOB) will commence legal action against former chief executive officer (CEO) of Yang Kee Logisitics, Ken Koh, after he failed to retract and apologise for his allegations against the bank.

Yang Kee Logistics was a client of UOB and has since closed down.

Concurrently, UOB will also be taking "appropriate legal action" against digital news platform The Online Citizen (TOC) and its chief editor, Xu Yuanchen — more commonly known as Terry Xu — for publishing Koh's allegations.

TOC has published several articles and a video detailing the allegations.

A UOB spokesperson shared the bank's next course of action with Mothership in an Apr. 1 statement.

On Mar. 27, Koh made headlines after TOC published an article containing his allegations about the conduct of UOB executives over the sale of Yang Kee Logistics' properties to real estate company Logos, as well as their handling of confidential information.

The alleged improper conduct by the bank's executives date back to 2016 and pertain to the sale of a property,

Koh made the allegations in a statutory declaration on Feb. 25.

UOB was the banker of Yang Kee Logistics, which went into receivership in 2022, where an external party was appointed to take control of the company's assets.

Koh's accusations subsequently caught the attention of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), which announced on Mar. 28 that it would be looking into his complaints, as well as his allegations of legal and regulatory breaches against the bank.

Allegations 'false, defamatory': UOB

According to a UOB spokesperson, the bank had requested Koh retract and apologise for his "defamatory remarks" on Mar. 26.

Taking legal action against TOC and Xu is also "necessary", as Koh's allegations are "false and defamatory", read the bank's statement.

The spokesperson stated that a court judgement had already been made in 2023, "dismissing Koh's application to appoint judicial managers over Yang Kee Logistics (Singapore) Pte Ltd".

"The judge had stated that 'the receivers have in fact been objective and professional, as well as diligent in their efforts' in evaluating the Logos deal," read the statement.

The spokesperson added that the court judgement findings were also "contrary to Koh's latest assertions", as "Yang Kee had first defaulted on its interest payment obligations to bondholders in 2018 and further defaulted upon maturity of the bonds in 2020."

Response from TOC

In an Apr. 1 article, TOC claimed that Singapore law firm Shook Lin & Bok LLP had sent a letter of demand on behalf of UOB to TOC Pte Ltd and Xu "personally" on Mar. 28.

The news platform also published a redacted version of the letter, along with its response, which was done "in the interest of transparency and public accountability".

The redacted version of the letter accused Xu of running an article and a Facebook post on TOC platforms, which contained remarks that were "completely false and baseless and constitute very grave libel against [UOB] which have disparaged [UOB's] reputation".

It also demanded TOC remove the said article and Facebook post, publish an apology and undertaking indefinitely on its platforms, and offer UOB an offer for damages by Apr. 1.

Xu defended TOC reporting

In his response to the letter, Xu defended TOC's reporting, stating that it was carried out "responsibly", "based on verifiable evidence", and "published in the public interest".

Specifically, Xu claimed that the statements in the article were either "direct quotations from sworn testimony" submitted by Koh — "a legally binding document" — or "substantiated by corporate documents".

Instead of a "legal rebuttal", Xu said UOB only offered a "general dismissal without engaging with the full details of the evidence presented" in the article, which included "audio recordings, documentary exhibits, and statutory declarations".

Xu also denied that UOB had suffered any loss or damage due to the TOC article but added that the news platform "is willing to publish" UOB's public statement or clarification if the bank wishes to issue one.

As of 10pm on Apr. 1, the article and Facebook post were still accessible on TOC's website and Facebook page.

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