Group Lease Plc (GL) has appointed a temporary chairman amid an ongoing regulatory scandal, but the company's chief executive position remains vacant as no suitable candidate has been found.
Konoshita: Named as interim chairman
Chairman of the executive committee, Tatsuya Konoshita, was named as interim chairman of the board of directors, effective last Friday, according to GL's filing to the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET).
"The company is in the process of finding a new chairman of the board of directors who has the legally-mandated qualifications and is a Thai national, as suggested by the board of directors. The company expects the candidate to be found within six months," said the GL statement.
"As for the CEO, the meeting [held on Oct 20] resolved not to appoint anyone as CEO until the company can find a suitable person."
The company's board of directors will inform investors as soon as the new chief executive is appointed.
"At this stage, it is suitable for the company's board of directors to make decisions as a group in detailed, team discussions rather than appoint an individual to be CEO and decision-maker," said GL.
SET-listed GL's share price has fallen steeply amid the ongoing regulatory scandal. GL is a digital finance company specialising in hire purchase for Japanese motorcycle brands.
Earlier, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a criminal complaint against former GL chief executive Mitsuji Konoshita, alleging fraud, misappropriation of company assets and falsification of accounting through concealed transactions involving associated overseas companies.
The SEC said concealed transactions were made through several associated companies abroad to exaggerate GL's operating results.
The regulator pointed to evidence that Group Lease Holding Co Ltd (GLH), a subsidiary of GL based in Singapore, had issued loans to four registered companies in Cyprus and another in Singapore worth US$54 million (1.8 billion baht), with Mr Konoshita serving as the controller and ultimate benefactor.
After receiving the loans from GLH, the five debtor companies transferred the money within companies of the lender's group to repay the interest and principal to GLH in an instalment, the SEC said.
The interest payments were recorded as income in GLH's financial statements, constituting fabrication of GL's accounting records and exaggeration of its operating results, according to the SEC.
The company's board of directors also plans to appoint an auditor to conduct a special inspection of the loan receivables from both the Cypriot and Singaporean borrowers, said GL.
"The process to find the auditor has already started and the company is expected to select and inform investors within one month," said GL.
The SEC told GL last Thursday that if the company did not urgently amend its financial statements, this could be considered a violation of Section 56 of the SEC Act.
The regulator also said that if the company's directors did not amend the financial statements and presented false or inaccurate financial information, this could be deemed a failure to comply with Section 312 of the SEC Act.
