Former Singapore Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong's son is being sued for breaching director's duties during his time as director of Singapore marine fuel and cargo trader Inter-Pacific Petroleum (IPP).

Goh Jin Hian, who was IPP's director from 2011 to 2019, is being sued by its judicial managers Deloitte & Touche for over $156 million including interest, «The Straits Times» reported earlier this week (behind paywall). The firm's largest creditors Maybank and Societe Generale, who are owed $88.3 million and $81.3 million respectively, are funding the suit, which was filed last Friday.

According to court documents, the $156 million was from drawdowns of trade financing between June and July 2019, which banks alleged were «non-existent or sham transactions.» The firm lost its operating license earlier this year and was placed under judicial administration amid financial stress. The losses at SocGen resulted in the departure of its co-heads of trade and commodities finance for Asia-Pacific.  

«In failing to prevent IPP from applying to SocGen and Maybank for drawdowns… at the time when IPP was insolvent, the defendant had acted in breach of his fiduciary duty to the plaintiff to take into account the interests of [IPP’s] creditors to ensure that the plaintiff’s assets are not dissipated or exploited to the prejudice of the creditors’ interests,» the suit said.

CAD Investigation

Goh, who is currently the executive director and chief executive officer of New Silkroutes Group, is the subject of a separate investigation by the Singapore Police Force's Commercial Affairs Department (CAD).

The mainboard-listed investment holding company has interests in oil trading and healthcare devices. The alleged offence is false trading and market rigging under the Securities and Futures Act in view of past share buy-backs and acquisitions of shares, according to a «Straits Times» report on September 28.

In the meantime, Goh has stepped down as chairman of Cordlife, a consumer healthcare company that provides blood banking services, while remaining on the board as an independent director, the company said on Tuesday.