Singapore police probe company owned by Loh cousins, who made a bid for Newcastle United

Singaporean duo Terence and Nelson Loh’s other company, which launched a bid for the soccer club, doctored photos of Barack Obama

Ernst & Young complained that Novena Global Healthcare Group used the auditor’s signatures on financial statements

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Singapore businessmen Terence Loh and Nelson Loh, pictured here with Evangeline Shen, their business partner in another venture, Bellagraph Nova Group. Photo: Handout

Published: 1:38pm, 19 Sep 2020Updated: 1:38pm, 19 Sep 2020

Singapore police are looking into a complaint from Ernst & Young that a firm owned by bidders for soccer club Newcastle United allegedly used the auditor’s unauthorised signatures on financial statements.

The investigation is the latest scrutiny of Singaporean business duo Terence and Nelson Loh since a report that their other firm behind the Newcastle bid doctored photos of Barack Obama and made other suspect claims in its marketing material.

The police report lodged this week relates to the financial statements of Cayman Islands incorporated Novena Global Healthcare Group, which Singapore’s The Straits Times newspaper reported is owned by the Loh cousins.

A spokeswoman for Ernst & Young said it was “never the auditors” of the Cayman Islands parent firm, and worked for a Singapore-based subsidiary only in 2017.

Police said they had received the complaint and were looking into the matter.

Neither of the Lohs – thrust into the spotlight last month as the co-founders of the newly formed Bellagraph Nova Group which claimed to be in advanced talks to buy one of England’s most high-profile clubs – responded to a request for comment.

A lawyer speaking on behalf of Terence Loh told The Straits Times that he was aware of the allegations but denied wrongdoing.

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