KUALA LUMPUR: Caely Holdings Bhd has announced that the authorities have frozen the operations of all the bank accounts of its group of companies.

       The lingerie manufacturer said in a bourse filing that it expects an impact on the financial and operational aspects of the group, although it is unable to ascertain the extent of the impact at this juncture.

       "The Board is not aware of any wrongdoing and will seek further clarification from the authorities on the issue.

       "The Company will make the necessary announcements to Bursa as and when there are further developments on the matter," it said.

       This latest development comes soon after the group began a forensic audit on one of its subsidiaries, Caely (M) Sdn Bhd.

       On April 7, Caely had announced in a filing with Bursa Malaysia that it had appointed a forensic auditor to carry out an independent audit on allegations of suspicious and irregular transactions at the subsidiary.

       Upon query by Bursa Securities, the group elaborated in an April 11 filing that the audit was launched after one of its independent non-executive directors received an anonymous package containing documents raising concerns on several suspicious transactions regarding the subsidiary.

       Trading in the shares of Caely has been halted from 2.30pm to 3.30pm on Monday, April 18, 2022.

       Before the midday break, shares in Caely were last traded up one sen or 2.17% at 47 sen apiece. Its warrants were up 0.5 sen or 3.7% to 14 sen a unit.