Three former management executives of mainboard-listed New Silkroutes Group (NSG), as well as a commercial market maker engaged by NSG, were charged in court on Wednesday (Sep 20) with false trading.

Among those who were charged from NSG is Goh Jin Hian, the former chief executive officer of the investment holding group. He is the son of former prime minister Goh Chok Tong.

The other two individuals formerly from NSG are Oo Cheong Kwan Kelvyn, who was the group’s chief corporate officer, and Teo Thiam Chuan William, who was its finance director.

Huang Yiwen, the sole director of GTC Group and a commercial market maker engaged by NSG at the time of the offence, was also charged with similar offences.

The police said the four individuals had allegedly placed orders and executed trades in NSG securities for the purpose of pushing up their price on 31 trading days between Feb 26, 2018, and Aug 27, 2018.

The alleged price-manipulative orders and trades include share buybacks conducted through NSG’s corporate trading account, said the police.

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The four individuals were each charged with 31 counts of Section 197(1)(b) of the Securities and Futures Act, read with Section 109 of the Penal Code for engaging in a conspiracy to create a misleading appearance with respect to the price of NSG securities.

Goh faces a further eight counts of Section 197(1)(b) of the Act for allegedly placing orders and executing trades in NSG securities through his personal trading account for the purpose of pushing up their price on eight trading days between Aug 31, 2018, and Dec 4, 2018.

The charges arose from a joint investigation carried out by the Commercial Affairs Department of the Singapore Police Force and the Monetary Authority of Singapore, said the police.

If convicted, each of the individuals may face a jail term of up to seven years, or a fine of up to S$250,000, or both for each charge.

Shares of NSG have been suspended since Nov 15, 2021.