More jail time for former KTL Global chief executive Tan Kheng Yeow
He is sentenced to two years and eight months in prison
[SINGAPORE] The former chief executive and director of KTL Global (KTLG), Tan Kheng Yeow, has been convicted of criminal breach of trust (CBT) involving almost S$1 million, the Singapore Police Force said on Tuesday (Nov 18).
He was sentenced to two years and eight months in jail for diverting about S$1 million away from, ostensibly, the purchase of machinery by a KTLG unit to instead create a false appearance of active trading in KTLG shares using the funds.
Formerly listed on the Singapore Exchange mainboard, KTLG is a holding company that reportedly owned several subsidiaries, including KTL Offshore (KTLO).
Tan was a director of, and was entrusted with, managing KTLO’s bank accounts.
On or around Apr 23, 2015, Tan informed KTLO that a transfer of about S$1 million from KTLO to KTL Offshore Hong Kong (KTL HK) was required.
On or around May 5 that year, he instructed the transfer to be made from KTLO to KTL HK. Subsequently, S$999,980 was transferred on May 20.
The transfer was supposedly for KTL HK to purchase machinery on behalf of KTL Offshore Technology (Nantong), a joint venture company in which KTLG held a 40 per cent stake. The Nantong unit in turn held a 40 per cent stake in KTL HK.
But Tan diverted the funds to share trading, in particular to finance KTLG trades.
This was done by using various trading accounts to artificially create a false appearance of active trading in KTLG’s shares.
He was convicted in January 2024 of false trading and was jailed for eight months, which he served after the courts rejected his appeal.
He was found to have engaged in a conspiracy with another individual to create a false appearance of active trading in KTLG shares to help the company meet the Singapore Exchange’s six-month minimum volume weighted average price of S$0.20.
The company was delisted in 2024.
On the latest conviction, Tan initially claimed trial but pleaded guilty to one count of criminal breach of trust midway through the trial proceedings, said the police. He was convicted by the State Courts on Jun 20 this year.
A similar charge involving S$500,000 was taken into consideration for the purposes of sentencing.
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