Court of Appeal Sentences GL to Pay ฿2.1Bn to JTA over Damage for Luring into Investment

The share price of Group Lease Public Company Limited (GL) immediately drops 4.5% to ฿2.96/share after the company announced the Court of Appeal of the Republic of Singapore’s order to pay the compensation over THB 2,187 million to JTA.

 

On Wednesday afternoon, GL made an announcement through the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET), citing the reference to the lawsuit filed with Singapore Court by J Trust Asia Pte. Ltd.(JTA) on 26th December 2017 against Group Lease Holdings Pte. Ltd. (GLH), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Group Lease Public Company Limited (GL), claiming that GLH and other defendants had engaged in a conspiracy to entice JTA to invest in GL by misrepresenting the financial position of the company.

JTA claims for damages in the amount of roughly THB 7,183 million for the conspiracy, interest and further or other relief as the Court deems fit. On 12 February 2020, the High Court of Singapore rendered the decision to dismiss JTA’s claim in the torts of deceit and conspiracy against all the defendants and ordered JTA’s to pay the costs of the defendants. JTA appealed against the decision afterward.

 

As a result, on 6 October 2020, the Court of Appeal of the Republic of Singapore revised the judgment of the High Court and rendered the decision granting JTA’s claims partially that GLH and the other defendants are jointly liable for damages amounting to roughly THB 2,187 million. About THB 1,527 million of the damages awarded to JTA is the remaining reimbursement of the $50 million CD (roughly THB 1,560 million) JTA had with GL that was originally due in March 2020. The judgment is final.

Still, GL stated that the company has the ability to repay and are in the process of analyzing the impact resulting from this judgment.