SINGAPORE – Osim founder Ron Sim has dropped claims of fraudulent misrepresentation previously brought against Trek 2000 International and two executives, including its former executive chairman who was jailed in 2022 over an accounting scandal at the company.
Mr Sim also sold down most of his stake in the Singapore-listed thumb-drive maker turned tech services firm to a new investor at a premium to market price.
In a Singapore Exchange (SGX) filing on May 28, Trek 2000 said Singapore-based fund management firm Azure Capital had emerged as a direct substantial shareholder after acquiring 22.1 million shares, or about 7.3 per cent of the company.
Following the sale of shares, Mr Sim reduced his stake in Trek 2000 from about 9.3 per cent to 2 per cent, and will no longer be a substantial shareholder of the company.
Trek 2000’s substantial shareholders now comprise its executive chairman Wayne Tan, Kioxia Corporation, CTI II Limited, Creative Technology and Azure Capital.
In an SGX filing on May 12, Trek 2000 disclosed that Azure Capital had paid 12 cents each for 22 million shares in the company, or $2,65 million in total.
Its shares rose 10.5 per cent to 12 cents following the May 12 announcement. They rose by almost 29 per cent to 20 cents following the May 28 announcements.
In a separate filing on May 28, Trek 2000 also disclosed that Mr Sim and Osim International would not proceed with legal claims against the company, Mr Wayne Tan and former executive chairman Henn Tan.
The dispute has to do with allegations made by Mr Sim in late 2024 and June 2025 relating to Osim’s purchase of Trek 2000 shares in June 2015.
According to earlier filings, the claims alleged that Henn Tan and/or the company had made fraudulent misrepresentations that Osim and Mr Sim relied on when buying the shares. The claims also alleged that Mr Sim had been treated unfairly as a minority shareholder.
Trek 2000 had previously said the allegations had “no basis”.
The company also stressed in earlier disclosures that Mr Wayne Tan was not involved in the company during the period of the share purchase and said the matter did not affect his ability to continue serving as executive chairman and executive director.
Trek 2000 is known as the Singapore company credited with inventing the USB thumb drive. However, the firm has faced years of financial and governance challenges, including an accounting scandal involving Henn Tan.
He was jailed for 16 months in October 2022 after being convicted of falsifying the company’s accounts, forging invoices and delivery orders, and conspiring to deceive auditors to cover up the company’s poor financial performance.
An Oct 22, 2022 Singapore Police Force statement said Henn Tan had instructed employees to record fictitious sales and licensing income at Trek 2000’s operating subsidiary, Trek Technology (Singapore), including a fake US$3.2 million sale to a foreign company.
When questioned, Henn Tan and others prepared a false chronology of events in an attempt to convince auditors that the sale was genuine. The auditors later reported the matter to the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority, triggering police investigations.
In 2020, Henn Tan was also fined $80,000 over Trek 2000’s failure to disclose interested-person transactions.
Since 2022, the company has cut off its former leadership and pivoted from thumb drives into providing tech solutions designed for renewable energy.
The company has also developed patented wireless memory technologies designed for high-speed and data-heavy applications. In October 2025, it announced a partnership with US-based Aboard AI to develop artificial intelligence-powered solutions for aviation.
For the 2025 financial year, the group reported net profit attributable to shareholders of US$4.6 million, up 1,275.8 per cent from a year earlier. The bulk of its revenue came from its AI and internet of things business, which accounted for more than 90 per cent of total sales.
Mr Terence Wong, founder and chief executive of Azure Capital, said the company’s current valuations are looking attractive given its “decisive turnaround” and pivot into AI and memory products and renewable energy solutions.
“The company is now in all the right sectors and we have seen a good pick-up in Trek’s performance numbers over the last few years,” Mr Wong told The Straits Times.
He added that Trek 2000 also has “a lot of cash”, giving it “good downside protection”.
