SINGAPORE: Former Hyflux ceo Olivia Lum Ooi Lin and 5 other previous leaders of the homegrown water treatment company will not be affirming in their trial for apparently leaving out information about offering electrical energy as part of the Tuaspring water desalination task.
The prosecution has actually concluded its case in the long-running trial, which started in August 2025.
On Wednesday (Oct 21), legal representatives for the 6 implicated individual detailed their technique to providing their case for the defence in court after specifying that they would not be making submissions that they had “no case to answer”
This describes when an implicated individual on trial argues, at the end of the prosecution’s case, that there is no case for them to even address in their defence and gets in touch with the judge to dismiss the case without the defence needing to open its case.
Principal District Judge Toh Han Li then contacted the 6 implicated to provide their defence.
The attorneys for Lum, 65, and her 5 co-accused stated they would not be affirming in their own defence, however would collectively contact a professional witness.
A conference was repaired for Nov 23 to set up the next set of trial dates.
After that, the defence will open its case.
BACKGROUND
The trial opened in August 2025, 4 years after the High Court bought Hyflux to end up.
Lum’s 5 co-accused are: Former primary monetary officer Cho Wee Peng, 57, and previous independent directors Teo Kiang Kok, 70, Christopher Murugasu, 67, Gay Chee Cheong, 70, and Lee Joo Hai, 70.
Of the 6, ex-CEO Lum deals with the most charges, with the prosecution case on 2 charges under the Securities and Futures Act:
- For making a deal of S$ 200 million (US$ 157 million) worth of securities to the general public with omissions about the electrical power sales.
- For consenting, as CEO, to Hyflux’s deliberate failure to alert the securities exchange about details associating with the electrical power sales.
Another 4 charges versus Lum were stood down or reserved while this trial went on.
Cho is on trial for one charge: for conniving in his capability as CFO for Hyflux to deliberately stop working to alert the securities exchange about the info associated to the electrical energy sales.
The staying 4 previous independent directors deal with 2 comparable charges each: For the exact same omission of info in an April 2011 deal details declaration, and for their declared disregard as directors, such that Hyflux purposefully stopped working to inform the securities exchange about the electrical power sales.
Hyflux, an openly noted business, had actually pitched the task to the marketplace as its 2nd and biggest seawater desalination plant in Tuas, however presumably left out that it would money the sale of water at an extremely low cost to nationwide water company PUB with its brand-new company of offering electrical power from a power plant it would construct.
The not successful venture into Singapore’s power market added to the business’s collapse and impacted about 34,000 financiers who held continuous securities and choice shares, and were owed an overall of S$ 900 million, according to the prosecution.
A seventh individual in the event, previous Hyflux independent director Rajsekar Kuppuswami Mitta, was fined S$ 90,000 in 2025 after pleading guilty.
Lum is being safeguarded by attorneys from Davinder Singh Chambers, Cho is safeguarded by a group from Rajah & & Tann, while Shook Lin & & Bok represents the 4 previous independent directors.
If founded guilty of granting Hyflux’s deliberate failure to reveal the electrical power sale info to the securities exchange, Lum might be imprisoned for approximately 7 years, fined as much as S$ 250,000, or both.
For making a deal of securities to the general public with omissions about the electrical energy sales, she might be imprisoned for approximately 2 years, fined as much as S$ 150,000, or both.
The previous independent directors deal with comparable charges for each of their particular charges.
If founded guilty of conniving in how Hyflux stopped working to inform the securities exchange about the electrical energy sales, Cho might be imprisoned for approximately 7 years, fined approximately S$ 250,000, or both.
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