[UPDATED] John Soh gets 36-year jail sentence in S’pore over S$8 bil penny stock crash

KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysian John Soh Chee Wen, the alleged mastermind behind the 2013 penny stock crash in neighbouring Singapore, has been handed a 36-year jail sentence, while girlfriend and alleged co-conspirator Quah Su-Ling was given 20 years in prison.

They were found guilty of 180 and 169 charges, respectively in May.

The penny stock saga, which involved 189 securities trading accounts held with 20 financial institutions and 60 individuals and companies, has been described as Singapore’s largest ever case of share manipulation – wiping out S$8 billion (RM26.3 billion, US$6 billion) in market value.

Both of them allegedly conspired to manipulate the shares of Blumont Group, Asiasons Capital and LionGold Corp – collectively known as BAL – withheld from a network of associates and brokers for over a year, between 2012 and 2013.

When BAL stocks crashed on October 4, 2013, some S$8 billion in market value was destroyed.

Soh and Quah are appealing their sentences. While Quah was granted a S$4 million bail, Soh has been under remand since November 2016, reported Singapore’s Straits Times.

The case also saw 194 days of trial that spanned almost four years.

In a November hearing, it was reported that the prosecution had sought a 40-year jail sentence for Soh, and 19.5 years for Quah.

However, Soh’s lawyer N. Sreenivasan had said that the convicted duo were not the only people involved in the penny stock saga.

He added that prosecution witnesses Leroy Lau, Ken Tai, Henry Tjoa and Gabriel Gan had conducted a large portion of BAL’s trading.

“Their sentences cannot be such that they are the scapegoats for the wrongs of others,” he was quoted as saying.

In a report by The Edge Singapore on May 5, the high court convicted Soh of 180 charges of the 188 he was facing, while Quah was found guilty of 169 of 178 charges she faced.

Both were acquitted of eight charges.

According to the same report, dozens of local and foreign financial institutions, ranging from small brokerages to global banks, were involved in the case.

Blumont has since been renamed Southern Archipelago, Asiasons was first named Attilan Group before being delisted, while LionGold has been renamed Shen Yao Holdings under new shareholders and management. – The Vibes, December 28, 2022