Vibrant Group queried on Khua’s undisclosed prison sentence in bourse filing

[SINGAPORE] The Securities Investors Association (Singapore), or Sias, has queried mainboard-listed logistics company Vibrant Group as to why it did not disclose that, prior to his stepping down, its former chief executive officer Eric Khua had lost a High Court appeal and is facing a 13-month prison sentence.

In a letter to Vibrant’s board of directors dated Feb 27, Sias president and CEO David Gerald noted that the High Court of Singapore had upheld a prison sentence of 13 months that was handed to Khua for causing grievous hurt.

Vibrant said in a bourse filing on Feb 16 that, effective from Feb 13, Khua had ceased to be CEO and executive director due to “health reasons”.

Gerald asked if the group had verified the reason for Khua’s stepping down and what steps it had taken to ensure that the announcement was “true and accurate and not in any way misleading to the market”.

“It is of paramount importance that the board expeditiously replies to the above questions and publish its responses on SGXNet as soon as possible, to ensure that the market has the complete and accurate information,” said Gerald.

Vibrant’s filing, submitted by group executive director and chief financial officer Francis Lee, stated that Khua had been on leave of absence since Oct 27, 2025.

In response to a question in the filing about whether there was “any matter in relation to the cessation that needs to be brought to the attention of shareholders of the listed issuer”, the answer was negative.

Appeal failed

On Jul 24, 2024, Khua – now 57 – was sentenced to 13 months’ jail for assaulting Tan Tock Han, 76, the former chairman of KTL Global, an investment holding company that was delisted from the Singapore Exchange (SGX) in 2024.

At the time, Vibrant said in a bourse filing that Khua had been sentenced to a period of incarceration for a personal matter not related to the company. But given that he would appeal against both the conviction and his sentence, he would continue in his roles, it added.

It is unclear when Khua filed his appeal and when it was turned down by the High Court.

Tan’s son, Wilson Tan Kheng Yeow, was a friend of Khua. Khua lent the younger Tan more than S$2.4 million in 2014 and 2015, as he needed financial assistance.

Over the years, Khua attempted to get his money back from both father and son, but failed. In 2021, he pushed the elder Tan down a flight of stairs, causing injury.