Compliance
Compliance Corner: High Court Sentencing, Monetary Authority Of Singapore
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Monetary Authority of Singapore
Singapore’s High Court has sentenced Soh Chee Wen (also known as
John Soh) and Quah Su-Ling to a total of 36 and 20
years of imprisonment respectively for manipulating share
prices.
They orchestrated a scheme to manipulate the shares of Blumont Group Ltd, Asiasons Capital Ltd and LionGold Corp Ltd between August 2012 and October 2013, and cheated two financial institutions, according to a statement on 28 December 2022 from the Monetary Authority of Singapore.
On 5 May last year, Soh and Quah were convicted of a total of 180 and 169 charges respectively. The High Court found the duo guilty of charges of market manipulation and price manipulation, engaging in deceptive practices against financial institutions, and cheating two financial institutions. In addition, Mr Soh was found guilty of witness tampering charges, and charges for being concerned in the management of the three companies whilst being an undischarged bankrupt.
Soh and Quah each indicated that they would be filing a notice of appeal against the conviction and the sentences imposed, save that Soh would not appeal against the conviction for the charges under Section 148 of the Companies Act.
“The Prosecution is committed to act against offenders who engage in market manipulation and other offences that harm the investing public and financial market participants, and we will not tolerate any attempts to subvert our criminal justice system. We will continue to work closely with our law enforcement agencies and regulator to safeguard Singapore’s reputation as an international financial centre,” chief prosecutor, Mr Tan Kiat Pheng, said.
The director of the Commercial Affairs Department (CAD), Mr David Chew, said: “We take a serious view of criminals who manipulate the stock market, as their conduct undermines the integrity of Singapore’s capital markets. In order to protect the integrity of our capital markets, the authorities will vigorously pursue and prosecute criminals who manipulate or conspire with others to manipulate our capital markets.”
