Trek 2000 International chairman Wayne Tan and ex-chairman Henn Tan named in legal dispute with Osim founder

THE CURRENT and former chairmen of mainboard-listed technology company Trek 2000 International (Trek) have been named in a legal letter of demand from Ron Sim and Osim International.

In a bourse filing on Wednesday (Dec 11), Trek said the executives named are Wayne Tan, the executive chairman, executive director and group president of Trek, and Henn Tan, the founder and ex-chairman, who stepped down in 2018. Henn Tan is the father of Wayne Tan.

The letter alleges that Henn Tan made fraudulent misrepresentations which Ron Sim and Osim relied on to purchase shares of Trek in 2015, and that Ron had been treated “unfairly and contrary to his legitimate expectations as a minority shareholder”.

Ron Sim is the founder of massage chair manufacturer Osim International. In August 2015, Osim announced the acquisition of 24,000,000 ordinary shares and 4,000,000 treasury shares of Trek.

Wayne Tan has engaged a legal counsel and “ intends to take all appropriate steps to vigorously contest the legal matter”.

Trek added that its board is of the view that the allegations have no basis and this legal matter is of no relevance to Wayne Tan during the period of share purchase, and that the Nominating Committee of the Board (excluding Wayne Tan) has assessed that he is suitable to continue in his present role.

In 2022, Henn Tan was sentenced to one year and four months’ jail for accounting fraud that covered up the company’s dismal financial performance.

Trek has been on the SGX Watchlist since June 2023. Shares of Trek ended trading down 1.4 per cent, or 0.001 at S$0.072, before the update.