The securities fraud lawsuit against SET-listed Group Lease Plc chairman and chief executive Mitsuji Konoshita remains in limbo after an administrative court accepted his countersuit against the Japanese Financial Services Agency.
According to the executive, the Japanese agency accused him of lying about a bond issued by APF Hospitality to manipulate shares of Japan's Wedge Holdings Co Ltd in 2010. Mr Konoshita then countersued the agency in Administrative Court, temporarily putting off the 1-billion-baht fine resulting from the original lawsuit.
The fine will be removed if the court makes no adjustments to the case within five years from April 2016.
Sophon Permsirivallop, who helped EY audit Group Lease in 2016, said a 3.48-billion-baht loan (which represented 40% of the group's total assets by the end of 2016), was extended to its Singapore-based subsidiary, which then re-lent the money to two other Group Lease subsidiaries based in Singapore and Cyprus.
Mr Konoshita said the company reduced the loan by 50% and expects to liquidate it next year.
"The company will also refrain from complicated transactions like the ones it previously conducted in Cambodia," he said.
The firms scandal-tainted past underpins its grand ambitions. The sales financing company aims for its revenue and net profit to grow 10-fold by 2021.
"We dream of beating big companies like Facebook, Google and Amazon, offering services to over 3 billion people in rural communities worldwide by 2030," said Mr Konoshita.
The company said it will gradually reduce its reliance on Thailand, which it projects will only provide 10% of its revenue within five years.
In 2016, GL posted a net profit of 1.06 billion baht on 2.92 billion in revenue. Its portfolio stood at 10.3 billion baht as of June 2017.
Net profit in the second quarter topped 338 million baht, its highest level after 11 consecutive quarters of growth. The firm's profit growth was driven by improved performance in all of its country units.
The firm derives 40% of its income from Thailand, 42% from Cambodia, 0.9% from Sri Lanka, 9.1% from Laos and the rest from Indonesia, Singapore and Myanmar, he said.
