OSIM founder Ron Sim sends letter of demand to Trek 2000 chairman

SINGAPORE: Lifestyle company OSIM and its founder Ron Sim have sent a letter of demand to both the current and former chairman of mainboard-listed Trek 2000.

In a bourse filing on Wednesday (Dec 11), Trek 2000, the tech firm behind the invention of the thumbdrive, said its executive chairman Wayne Tan as well as former chairman and founder Henn Tan were named in the letter of demand.

The letter of demand alleges that Henn Tan and Trek 2000 made "fraudulent misrepresentations" when Sim bought its shares in June 2015 and that Sim had been "treated unfairly and contrary to his legitimate expectations as a minority shareholder of the company".

A letter of demand, usually sent by lawyers, contains a list of demands. If the recipients - in this case, Trek 2000's chairman and former chairman - do not meet these demands, legal action, such as a lawsuit, may follow.

According to Trek 2000's 2023 annual report, Sim holds around 28.3 million shares in the company, making him the third largest shareholder (9.06 per cent) after Wayne Tan and flash memory maker Kioxia.

In June 2015, OSIM agreed to buy 24 million ordinary shares and 1 million treasury shares from Trek 2000 at around S$0.43 apiece.

Henn Tan pleaded guilty in August 2022 after court documents showed that he falsified Trek 2000's company statements together with other executives between November and December 2015.

Henn Tan, along with two other former Trek 2000 executives, received a jail sentence of between nine months and 16 months, while the company's former divisional president was jailed for two months in May 2023.

In the same bourse filing, Trek 2000 said: "The board is of the view that the allegations have no basis and this legal matter is of no relevance to Mr Wayne Tan during the period of share purchase."

The company added that Wayne Tan, who is the son of Henn, has engaged a legal counsel and "intends to take all appropriate steps to vigorously contest the legal matter". 

Wayne Tan will also continue to serve in his current capacities as executive chairman, executive director and group president, Trek 2000 said. 

"The nomination committee of the board, excluding Mr Wayne Tan, has no reason to believe that (his) ability to discharge his duties and responsibilities in his present capacity will be affected, and in this regard, (he) will continue in his present capacity."

The company added that it will continue to monitor the progress of the legal matter. Shares of Trek 2000 ended at S$0.072 on Wednesday.