The Singapore-registered company has admitted to doctoring photographs of its founders with former United States President Barack Obama.
Bellagraph Nova Group, the firm founded by jewelry designer and former Morgan Stanley banker Evangeline Shen and Singapore cousins and former J.P. Morgan investment bankers Terence Loh and Nelson Loh, has been under fire since it announced last week that it had entered into talks to buy Premier League side Newcastle United Football Club.
BNG, which claims to be worth $12 billion and based in Paris, also said it owns over 30 entities across 100 countries, employing 23,000 people in fields including finance, sports, healthcare, luxury goods, entertainment and robotics.
However, a «Reuters» investigation revealed no company called Bellagraph Nova Group is registered in France, and no such company exists at its listed address of 10 Place Vendome. BNG has also said that Hydra X, a fintech firm it owns, is implementing a trading system for Singapore Exchange (SGX) – a claim denied by both Hydra X and SGX.
Doctored Photos
Nereides Antonio Giamundo de Bourbon, head of investor relations, admitted the company had photoshopped pictures of former U.S. President Barack Obama to make it look like he had attended a meeting with its executives in Paris.
The photos, which were used prominently on the firm's website and publicity materials, were subsequently taken down, and as of Wednesday, the BNG website has been made private.
«We are serious people...the only ambiguous thing has been the photoshop picture,» De Bourbon said. «There wasn’t any malicious aim behind it.»
Axington Probe
Shen and the Loh cousins are also respectively the non-independent non-executive chairman and controlling shareholders of Singapore-based professional advisory services Axington, a Catalist-listed firm that in July proposed a name change to NETX, and to change its core business to providing medical and consumer wellness services.
«Where necessary, appropriate investigations should be undertaken to evaluate suitability in light of recent developments,» Singapore Exchange Regulation said on Monday, «Straits Times» reported. It also noted that it has asked Novus Corporate Finance, the continuing sponsor of Axington, about its scrutiny of its chairman Shen.
On Wednesday, the newspaper reported that former U.S. ambassador to Singapore Kirk Wagar said he has resigned from his independent director position in Axington, which he assumed in July.
