RAFFLES Education Group has been awarded S$2.9 million in damages by the Singapore High Court against Educomp founder Shantanu Prakash and Singapore lawyer Dennis Lui.

 

Raffles Education Group claimed that Prakash and Lui had devised a plan to mislead the group into believing that Educomp would agree to a buyout of its stake in a joint venture when it possessed no such intention.

 

The Educomp group of companies include India-listed Educomp Solutions, of which Prakash is chairman and managing director, as well as wholly-owned subsidiaries Educomp Asia Pacific and Educomp Professional Education.

 

Lui was a director of Educomp Asia Pacific from June 2009 to December 2016.

 

The plaintiffs comprised Singapore-listed private education provider Raffles Education Corporation : NR7 +3.92%, wholly-owned subsidiary Raffles Education Investment India (REI), and India-incorporated Raffles Design International India (RDI).

 

They claimed the defendants had conspired and made misrepresentations that caused the group to enter into a share purchase agreement (SPA) and a business advisory agreement (BAA) with counterparties under the defendants&rsquo control.

 

However, Raffles Education Group claimed Prakash and Lui never intended for the counterparties to comply with these agreements.

 

In a court judgement on Thursday (Apr 6), Justice Audrey Lim found Raffles Education Group had proved several claims against the defendants.

 

These included fraudulent misrepresentation pertaining to the BAA, inducing breach of the SPA and BAA, as well as conspiring to injure or cause loss to REI by unlawful means with regard to the BAA.

 

The judge found Prakash and Lui to be jointly and severally liable to REI for S$221,080, and to REI and RDI for 163.2 million Indian rupees (S$2.65 million).

 

The sums are subject to interest at 5.33 per cent per annum from May 16, 2017 and from Aug 19, 2015, respectively.

 

The relationship between Raffles Education and Educomp had started around 2006.

 

Raffles Education Corporation&rsquo s chairman and chief executive officer Chew Hua Seng and Prakash had then discussed the prospect of a joint venture for the provision of education-related services in India.

RAFFLES Education said it was in compliance in response to queries from the Singapore Exchange Regulation (SGX RegCo) over its implementation of board diversity policy.

 

The company said that it evaluates board composition at the appointment of a new director and on an ongoing basis to achieve board diversity. In particular, Raffles Education : NR7 0% said that it is in compliance with provision 2.4 of the Code of Corporate Governance regarding the appropriate size and skills for a company&rsquo s board of directors.

 

Currently, the company&rsquo s board consists of four independent and non-executive directors and one non-independent and non-executive director and one executive director.

 

&ldquo This composition means most directors are independent of management and free from any business or other relationship which could interfere with the exercise of independent judgement or the ability to act in the best interests of the Company,&rdquo said Raffles Education in a bourse filing on Wednesday (Oct 19).

 

The directors&rsquo ages range between 50 and 72 years old, and have a variety of skills due to their diverse backgrounds, according to the company. It highlighted the experience of Lim How Teck and Joseph He, two directors that are currently under investigation by the Commercial Affairs Department and the Monetary Authority of Singapore for possible breaches of the Securities and Futures Act.

 

Other directors like Ng Kwan Meng and Lim Siew Mun were also mentioned, whose experience in banking and finance was highlighted, as well as Chua Chwee Koh&rsquo s rank of Brigadier General in the Singapore Armed Forces. Raffles Education has said that it would look to appoint younger directors as part of the ongoing renewal process.

 

The company said that the nominating committee consults with the board, with board composition and diversity in mind, in response to a query to detail the process and guidance by the nominating committee in reviewing the board&rsquo s collective skills matrix.

 

&ldquo Besides the usual knowledge and expertise, the human skills of each candidate are also evaluated,&rdquo said Raffles Education.