2013 penny stock crash case enters committal hearing

A COMMITTAL hearing to determine if there is sufficient evidence for the 2013 penny stock crash case to proceed to trial commenced Wednesday at the Supreme Court.

Malaysian businessman John Soh Chee Wen and former CEO of IPCO International Quah Su-Ling stand accused of manipulating stock prices of Blumont Group, Asiasons Capital (now Attilan Group) and LionGold Corp. The subsequent crash saw S$8 billion wiped out on the Singapore Exchange within three days in October 2013.

Soh is represented by Narayanan Sreenivasan, Selvarajan Balamurugan and Jason Lim Wei Liang of Straits Law Practice. Quah is represented by Philip Fong, Lynn Wong, Sui Yi Xiong and Liew Jia Min of Eversheds Harry Elias.

Goh Hin Calm, who resigned in March from his role as interim CEO of IPCO International, is accused of being an accomplice to the pair. He is represented by Nicholas Jeyaraj s/o Narayanan and Cheryl Chan of Nicholas & Tan Partnership.

The prosecution, led by Deputy Public Prosecutor Peter Koy, named a total of 67 witnesses and will bring 13 of them to the stand over the course of the committal hearing, scheduled to last till Friday.