Month: March 2020
$50 million CD to JTA Terminated, Any Potential Payment Now a Matter for the Courts of Thailand
23 Mar 2020
On February 28, 2020, Group Lease sent a notice to JTrust Asia notifying JTA that they had breached the Investment Agreement for the $50 million convertible debenture with GL. JTA has intentionally and in bad faith engaged in various actions to obstruct GL’s the use of these funds and interfered with GL’s business operations. On March 16, 2020, GL sent a Notice of Termination to JTA for the $50 million CD on account of JTA’s failure to remedy any damages against which GL has suffered from JTA’s wrongful acts.
Additionally, JTA claimed in Thailand that the CD is void. Thus under JTA’s view, the CD no longer has any terms or obligations between JTA and GL, including no maturity. Both GL and JTA now agree that the CD is either void or terminated. Therefore, the obligation of GL to JTA is unclear and is now a matter for the courts of Thailand.
GL would like to make clear that we have the complete capacity to repay the original principal and interest, however due to the actions taken by JTA and under Thai law, any payments by GL to JTA would be deemed as groundless payments and GL would not be entitled to recognize the amount paid. So GL must now wait until the issue is resolved by the Thai courts before paying any amount.
JTA has had its rehabilitation claims in Thailand dismissed multiple times and JTA was recently ordered to pay damages of THB 685.5 million to GL as the court found that JTA acted in bad faith by filing a false rehabilitation against GL. JTA also claimed in Singapore that GL dishonestly misrepresented its financials, but the Singapore High Court dismissed all of JTA’s claims last month. JTA’s actions have not been defensible and have been used in bad faith specifically to cause harm to GL.
These actions and others by JTA have caused severe financial and reputational damage to GL as well as its subsidiaries and related parties. GL reserves the right to claim further damages against JTA and GL will not hesitate to exercise such rights to fulfil our obligation to our shareholders and stakeholders, however we welcome JTA to work with us on a solution to our issues rather than them continuing their bad faith legal strategy.
Thai Courts rule JTA acted in bad faith, orders JTA to pay THB 685.5 million to GL
06 Mar 2020
On March 5, 2020, the Civil Court in Thailand ruled that that JTA acted in bad faith by filing the false rehabilitation petition against Group Lease in Thailand. The Court also ruled that JTA’s actions caused damages and ordered JTA to pay THB 685.5 million, including lawyer fees, to GL as of March 5, 2020.
GL took civil action against JTA due to JTA’s unjustified attempt to force GL into rehabilitation, even though it is clear GL does not meet the standards for rehabilitation. On August 15, 2019, the Central Bankruptcy Court dismissed the JTA submitted rehabilitation petition against GL for the second time. The court looked at three factors when deciding to dismiss the case:
- The amount of GL debt owed to JTA
- The amount of GL’s assets compared to GL’s liabilities
- The ability of GL to operate the business
Upon looking at those three factors, the court ruled that the amount GL owes JTA is unclear due JTA’s legal actions, GL has assets exceeding its liabilities and therefore is not insolvent, and finally that GL was able to operate the business as usual and therefore dismissed JTA’s petition.
We are pleased the Civil Court agreed that JTA acted in bad faith and caused damage to our company. We hope JTA learns from this case and stops litigating in bad faith. After last month’s decision at the High Court of Singapore in the favor of Group Lease, and today’s decision, it strengthens our argument to continue to fight for compensation for all damages JTA has done and continues to do to GL.