Singapore Olam shares climb 17%, no evidence of fraud

Olam Group’s Singapore-listed shares saw the biggest jump in nearly 15 years after the commodities trader said that its investigation had turned up no evidence to back up claims of a reported scandal at its Nigerian units, Bloomberg reported on Monday.

Following the fraud accusations in late October, Olam Group shares saw their lowest close since 2005, according to Bloomberg. These setbacks came on top of a profit slump and an IPO delay. Monday saw the largest intraday gain since May 2009, with the stock rising as much as 17 per cent to S$1.03. At 1:36 PM, it was trading at S$1.

The company released a statement that the audit and risk committee had finished the review without finding any evidence, with assistance from independent accountants and external counsel. According to the statement, the subsidiaries’ and their officers’ businesses are running smoothly and no charges have been filed against them.

Olam has been under investigation since news reports in Nigeria claimed that its domestic branches were involved in a multibillion-dollar fraud and were being looked into by local authorities. Temasek Holdings Pte, Singapore’s state-owned investment fund, owns approximately 51 per cent of the company. Rejecting the claims made in the September articles, the company directed an investigation into the situation.