2 Malaysians convicted of market manipulation in Singapore

Malaysians Soh Chee Wen and Quah Su-Ling were yesterday convicted by the Singapore High Court of market manipulation and cheating offences involving an elaborate scheme to manipulate the shares of Blumont Group Ltd, Asiasons Capital Ltd, and LionGold Corp Ltd.

In a joint statement, the Singapore Police Force and the Monetary Authority of Singapore said their conviction followed a trial of close to 200 days.

Soh and Quah were convicted of a total of 180 and 169 charges respectively.

They were charged on Nov 25, 2016 under the Securities and Futures Act and the Penal Code over the elaborate and extensive scheme to manipulate the market and prices of the three shares between August 2012 and October 2013.

Soh was also charged under the Companies Act.

The High Court found that Soh and Quah had carried out their conspiracies by controlling and using 187 trading accounts which belonged to 58 individuals and corporate nominees (controlled accounts) to make thousands of manipulative trades in each of the three counters.

In particular, the statement said the trades between the controlled accounts were conducted to generate artificial liquidity and demand for these shares, to cause the share prices to rise over time, and to retain control of large amounts of shares without disclosing this to the market.

The 58 account holders had handed over control of their accounts to Soh and Quah.

“This is the largest market manipulation case in Singapore’s history,” the statement said.

During investigations, the Commercial Affairs Department and the Monetary Authority of Singapore raided over 50 locations and interviewed more than 70 people.

The investigations covered extensive documentary evidence comprising over two million emails, half a million trade orders, and thousands of telephone records and financial statements.

Both Soh and Quah will be sentenced at a later date.

A third accused person, Goh Hin Calm, was convicted on March 20, 2019.

Goh, who was a key accomplice of Soh and Quah, pleaded guilty to two charges under Section 197 of the Securities and Futures Act for intentionally aiding the duo in creating a false appearance with respect to the market for Blumont and Asiasons shares between March 18, 2013 and Oct 3, 2013.

He was sentenced to three years in jail, said the statement.

Four similar charges were taken into consideration for the purpose of sentencing.