STS : Pan-El: Biggest corporate collapse here to date
Yap Yok Foo
17th September 2000
Pan-El: Biggest corporate collapse here to date
THE collapse of Pan-Electric Industries in 1985 was and still is the
biggest corporate failure here.
The marine salvage, hotel and property conglomerate failed to settle
debts of more than $450 million, sparking an unprecedented shutdown of
the Singapore and Kuala Lumpur stock exchanges.
Criminal investigations and prosecutions led to the jailing of former
Malaysian Chinese Association president Tan Koon Swan, stockbroker
Peter Tham and Pan-El's finance director, Tan Kok Liang.
Tham, said to be the one of the masterminds behind the Pan-El saga,
disappeared from Singapore in 1984, and was traced to the United
States in 1986.
He was later brought back to Singapore to face charges.
He was jailed for eight years for forging share certificates and
another year for criminal breach of trust.
He was also fined for offences under the Companies Act.
Sweeping reforms were introduced after the Pan-El crisis to ensure
that Singapore broking firms are well-capitalised and can withstand
market and credit risks.
The new securities laws, passed in March 1986, ended the era of
self-regulation for the stock exchange and helped firms here weather
the 1987 global stock market crisis.
Tham was declared a bankrupt in February 1991.
He was released from prison in 1992
================================
Money, women, trouble
Fraud, forgery, jail, divorce, infidelity -- former kingpin Tham has
lived it all. The elusive bankrupt is again a wanted man for not
disclosing cash and assets
FORMER Pan-Electric Industries director Peter Tham Wing Fai's history
of legal problems can be traced to two factors: money and women.
And they refuse to leave him alone.
First it was money, then women. Now, a combination of both has made
him abscond -- to escape the long arm of the law.
It is his second disappearing act in a career that has involved
embezzlement and bankruptcy, and frequent upheavals in his personal
life.
He served nine years' jail following his convictions in 1986 for
criminal breach of trust of millions of dollars and forgeries of share
certificates.
He was declared a bankrupt in 1991.
After his release from prison in 1992, Tham divorced his wife, Madam
Joyce Aw, daughter of the late Mr Aw Kow of Tiger Balm fame.
By then, he had met Madam Kok Mei Yee, a former air stewardess who was
a public relations officer at Orchard Hotel.
They first met in 1983 when he was the hotel's chairman.
They got married in 1995 after she became pregnant with his son.
But the relationship soon soured.
In April 1998, Madam Kok, then 39, took him to court claiming she was
beaten up after she caught him in bed with another woman.
Tham was acquitted of the charge after she withdrew her private
summons against him a month later.
He had then told The Straits Times: ""I just want some peace. I want a
quiet and peaceful life from now on.''
That never happened.
And it was Madam Kok, sources said, who caused him fresh trouble by
complaining to the authorities that despite being a bankrupt, he had a
collection of antique grandfather clocks and Chinese pottery, some
dating back to the Ming Dynasty.
They were kept in their apartment in Peck Hay Road, near Cairnhill
Road.
It led to the seizure of more than 130 pieces of paintings, antiques,
ceramics, jade ornaments and bowling balls -- Tham was a former
bowling champion.
It is understood that they have since been auctioned off.
Tham, now 51 and an undischarged bankrupt for a sum of over $25
million, was charged in May with allegedly hiding about $1.7 million
in cash, three cars and other valuables from the Official Assignee.
A bankrupt has to declare all his assets and liabilities, and give an
update on his financial status every six months. Mr Godwin Campos,
since discharged as Tham's counsel, told the court last Friday that
his client was to have shown up to plead guilty to the nine charges he
has been accused of.
But he has not been able to contact Tham.
A warrant of arrest is now out for Tham, and no bail would be offered
to him if he is caught.
He disappeared similarly months before the Pan-Electric conglomerate
collapsed in 1985 and was traced in 1986 to the United States (see
other story).
He flew to Tokyo and was brought back here to face charges.
Sources said Tham's passport expired in 1995, but it is uncertain if
he is still here.
The Sunday Times understands that he had been working as an
""employment consultant'' since 1992 with a local firm located at
Central Building, along Magazine Road.
""It's hard to say if that's a permanent job or he's just freelancing
as he has so many contacts,'' said a source.
http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/
**************From Uncle Yap**************
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angus
No doubt Pan-El caused more side effects as it was a public listed company.
As for Perwaja, it is still outstanding.....
H J Angus