Oriental Century and Raffles Education

Major Singapore listed education company Raffles Education was the victim of major fraud in its investee company, Orient Century. The later is a Singapore company with its operations in China. The market was shocked by recent news that Orient Century's Chief Executive Officer, Wang Yuean, admitted to inflating sales and cash balances, as well as diverting funds to a third party. The admissions, if true, may well amount to offences under the Singapore Companies Act and the Penal Code.

Raffles Education holds about about a 30% share of Orient Century which cost $34.6 million. The later company has now appointed a special legal adviser and a special accountant to cope with the crisis.

Commentators have pointed out the difficulty of enforcing Singapore company and fraud laws in relation to foreign nationals who are based overseas.