Gan Siew Liat, Executive Director of KNM and also the wife of Lee Swee Eng, former CEO of KNM, who is on trial for Insider Trading, has been accused by Employees of diverting ESOS shares to Family members and a non-employee Director at KNM.
Evidence shows that over the past 2 years, GAN SIEW LIAT who is also the Chairperson of the KNM ESOS committee (Employee Stock Options Scheme) has diverted more than 155 million units of KNM shares to the following individuals
- LEE SWEE ENG (HUSBAND) 60,000,000 KNM Shares
- GAN SIEW LIAT (HERSELF) 40,000,000 KNM Shares
- SARA LEE MEI CHING (DAUGHTER) 25,000,000 Shares
- CHEW FOOK SIN (BROTHER-IN-LAW) 18,000,000 Shares
- MD RIZAL BAHARI BIN MD NOOR (NON-EMPLOYEE DIRECTOR) 10,000,000 Shares
- JUSTINE GAN HAI CHEING (COUSIN) 350,000
- WONG LAY FONG (COUSIN) 2,000,000
This represents 155,350,000 (nearly 84%) of the total 185,850,000 KNM ESOS units issued that belong to the Employees of KNM and its group.
Many Employees are demanding the ESOS shares be returned and distributed to Employees that contribute to the company’s bottom line. The Gan Siew Liat Family has been a drain on the company and its shareholders for some time.
The largest contribution of ESOS shares was granted to her husband Lee Swee Eng who while the Group CEO has been charged with insider Trading. Trial begins on the 22nd of May 2021. How can Lee Swee Eng have earned 60,000,000 million shares when is has been charged with such a crime against the shareholders and employees of the company?
Gan Siew Liat who is the KNM Executive Director (taking over control from her husband) and HR manager granted herself 40,000,000 million more shares for her good service to the company. Employees report that she has not shown up more than 3 times in the past year.
Sara Lee Mei Ching, the Daughter of Gan Siew Liat, and Lee Swee Eng received 25,000,000 million ESOS shares. Sara, we are told, is a recent graduate in the field of hospitality management has been the proxy director of the Empress Ethanol unit for KNM. She has no business experience or knowledge of the business and is not qualified to be the post her mother assigned to her except to qualify for ESOS share distribution. It is said she only visits Thailand to vote in Board Meetings with her parents.
A typical high-performing employee who stands out would normally receive 200,000 – 400,000 KNM ESOS shares vesting over a 3-year period. But not the Gan Siew Liat family. Gan Siew Liat has somehow changed the rules for her and her family over that of the employees.
The KNM Board of Directors is controlled by the Gan Siew Liat / Lee Swee Eng family who only owns around 10% of the company. Shareholders are calling for the return of these shares as well as the removal of the family from the KNM leadership. The next AGM should prove interesting as shareholders step up and remove the family from KNM once and for all.
