PGG Wrightson sidelines chair as investigations continue in Singapore

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Agri-services business PGG Wrightson (PGW) has sidelined its chairperson, who is being investigated for alleged securities law breaches in Singapore.

Last week the company revealed that Lee Joo Hai, a representative of PGW’s major shareholder Agria, had been charged for possible breaches of Singapore’s information disclosure rules when he was a director of a firm, Hyflux, which collapsed in 2018 and went into liquidation in 2021.

Initially the PGW board said after a preliminary assessment, the issues involving Lee did not have any connection to the business or operations of PGW, nor his abilities to function a a director.

At the same time it also accepted a presumption of innocence given Lee’s intention to defend the charges.

“While the PGW Board has not altered its preliminary view as expressed on 30 June, it has determined that it would be in the best interests of PGW for Mr. U to assume the role of Acting Chair while the investigations and charges relating to Mr. Lee remain ongoing,” the board said in a statement to the NZX.

Lee was replaced by U Kean Seng, and New Zealand resident director Sarah Brown become deputy-chair.

It reaffirmed that Lee’s suitability to remain a director would be evaluated as events occurred.

Singapore police laid charges against Lee and several other directors and the chief executive of Hyflux over disclosures made when the company was raising money.

It is not the first time that an overseas chair of PGG Wrightson has fallen foul of authorities here and in and the US.

In 2018, then PGW chair Alan Lai and Agria cut a deal with US authorities over alleged market manipulation of Agria’s share price, which the New Zealand Overseas Investment Office later successfully used to argue in the High Court that they had breached the good character provisions in foreign investment rules.

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