Goh Jin Hian resigns from board of Swiss-based crypto bank Seba amid lawsuit by IPP’s judicial managers

Dr Goh Jin Hian has left the board of Swiss-based crypto bank Seba last week, after news broke that he was being sued by the judicial managers of Inter-Pacific Petroleum (IPP) over losses of about US$156 million (S$212.6 million).

Dr Goh, the son of former Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong, was accused of breaching his director’s duties “to act with skill, care and diligence” following the suspension of IPP’s bunker craft operator license in June 2019.

IPP’s largest creditors, Malayan Banking (Maybank) and Societe Generale’s (SocGen) Singapore branch, were each owed by the company USD$88.3 million (S$119.6 million) and USD$81.3 million (S$110.1 million) respectively.

The suit seeks to recover about US$156 million with interest from Dr Goh for drawdowns of trade financing between June and July 2019 that the banks alleged were “non-existent of sham transactions”.

Meanwhile, finews.asia reported on Saturday (10 Oct) that the former director of IPP has resigned from the board of Seba last week.

A spokeswoman at Seba notified the news outlet about Dr Goh’s resignation from the board on Saturday, but did not elaborate on the reason behind his decision.

Though Seba had removed Dr Goh from its website, his name remains listed as a director in the Swiss commercial registry.

Previously on 5 October, Cordlife Group stated that Dr Goh has stepped down from being its chairman but it noted that he will continue to serve as Cordlife’s independent director (ID).