MALAYSIAN businessman John Soh Chee Wen, the accused mastermind of Singapore’s 2013 penny stock crash, and his co-conspirator Quah Su-Ling were sentenced to 36 years and 20 years jail respectively.

The two “long-term partners in both business and personal affairs” had been on trial since March 2019 for orchestrating the manipulation of three penny stocks collectively known as BAL — Blumont Group, Asiasons Capital and LionGold Corp — between 2012 and 2013.

The stocks crashed in October 2013 and destroyed some S$8 billion (RM26.25 billion) in market value.

In May this year, the duo were found guilty by the Singapore High Court of the country’s most serious case of market manipulation. They were convicted of criminal conspiracy, including false trading, price manipulation, deception and cheating.

Soh was convicted of 180 out of the 188 charges faced, while Quah was found guilty of 169 of the 178 charges faced. They were convicted of share manipulation and cheating charges.

According to The Straits Times of Singapore, both are appealing against their sentences.

High Court judge Hoo Sheau Peng said the accused were held responsible due to the large number of controlled accounts and intermediaries and financial institutions involved.

“In terms of the large number of controlled accounts and intermediaries and financial institutions involved, and the substantial volume of BAL trades and high percentage of the whole market’s trading volume, the accused are to be held responsible for most of the trades.

“In my view, there is no dispute that Quah is less culpable, and she is less involved in terms of the scheme’s conceptualisation and execution. As a starting point for the false trading and price manipulation charges, I will impose on Quah two-thirds of the sentence imposed on Soh,” Hoo said in deciding Quah’s sentence.

Soh, 63, has been in remand since November 2016, while Quah, 58, the former CEO of IPCO (now Renaissance United), is free on a S$4 million (RM13.16 million) bail. — TMR