SingPost's former CEO Vincent Phang (left) and former CFO Vincent Yik were fired on Dec 21, 2024, following a whistle-blowing report and internal investigations. - PHOTOS: ST FILE, BT FILE
SINGAPORE (The Straits Times/ANN): Singapore Post’s former chief executive officer and chief financial officer said they welcome any independent inquiry into the case that led to their sacking, in a statement on Friday (Jan 3).
Former group CEO Vincent Phang and former CFO Vincent Yik were responding to calls from the Securities Investors Association (Singapore), or Sias, for an independent, professional inquiry into the events that led to their dismissal on Dec 21.
They were fired following a whistle-blowing report and internal investigations. A third executive, Mr Li Yu, the CEO of the international business unit at the company, was also dismissed along with them.
“We would like to state that we welcome any independent inquiry, including any from other regulatory bodies or authorities, and would participate fully,” Mr Phang and Mr Yik said.
On Jan 2, Sias said shareholders deserve to know what exactly happened, as the sudden dismissal of three senior executives from SingPost, coupled with their vigorous denial of the allegations against them, has raised “critical questions”.
Mr David Gerald, Sias president and chief executive, also pointed out that there are discrepancies between what SingPost said about the three executives and what the executives said about themselves.
These discrepancies concerned the number of times and on which occasions the executives made misrepresentations over the whistle-blowing report.
“We have here a fundamental difference in positions taken by the two opposing parties. (The) only way to properly resolve this is via an independent investigation,” Mr Gerald said.
All three executives have contested the termination of their employment, which they said was unfair and without merit.
SingPost said on Jan 2 that it is also open to discussions with Sias about its decision to fire the three executives after Sias’ call for an inquiry, media reports said.
It added that it fulfilled its disclosure obligations “while being mindful not to prejudice any potential legal proceedings”, the reports said.
SingPost first received the whistle-blowing report on Jan 17, 2023, and investigations conducted by SingPost’s internal auditors started that day.
Investigations were related to people in the international business unit who had manually keyed in the “DF” (delivery failure) status code for a significant number of parcels that SingPost had agreed to deliver. The code indicated that delivery had been attempted but failed, but it was alleged that there were no attempts made at delivery.
SingPost also conducted investigations related to management’s conduct in the handling of investigations into the whistle-blowing report, which led to the firing of Mr Phang, Mr Yik and Mr Li.
SingPost officially announced the firings and the whistle-blowing report on the Singapore Exchange on Dec 22.
SingPost’s stock was trading at 55 cents at around 5pm on Jan 3, an improvement over the 50 cents that the stock fell to on Dec 23 after the news broke.
Sue-Ann Tan is a business correspondent at The Straits Times, covering capital markets and sustainable finance. - The Straits Times/ANN
