In a statement today, he denied all the allegations made by his former company, which he described as false and highly defamatory. He said he would take legal action.

Ng said the alleged misuse of funds had happened before he was appointed as company chairman in December 2020. When he learned of the matter, he had engaged an external forensic auditor to investigate and had given full cooperation to the auditor.

After he sold his shares in the troubled lingerie company and resigned from the board in May, there was a proper handover to enable the investigation to carry on, he said. The board had taken further actions, after his resignation, against former directors who, he said, were responsible for the alleged wrongdoings.

“It is, therefore, absurd to even suggest I would cover up the alleged misuse of RM30.55 million of funds by the former directors in question or be involved in any manner whatsoever in the alleged wrongdoings,” he said.

Ng’s statement was in response to a report in The Edge business weekly that a police report against him and 11 former directors had been lodged to investigate claims of misuse of funds.

A company spokesman had named all those implicated. A filing with the stock exchange on Wednesday did not name the former board members except to say that they “include those who were on board until Aug 29 prior to the appointment of the current board”.

The Edge said a Caely spokesman had identified Ng as being one of those named in the police report. The spokesman had also referred to a suit filed at the High Court in Ipoh on Aug 26 regarding the alleged misappropriation of funds.

Caely’s founder and former executive director Fong Nyok Yoon and her husband Chuah Chin Lai were implicated in the suit.

Ng said those at the helm of the Perak-based lingerie and apparel manufacturer had tarnished his reputation and he was now planning to take legal action.

In April, the company said its operational bank accounts had been frozen by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commision.

The freeze order came after the firm announced on April 7 that a forensic auditor had been appointed to investigate allegations of suspicious and irregular transactions at the company.