Quah referred to Soh as the towkay: prosecution witness

THE prosecution portrayed the 59-year-old John Soh and the 54-year-old Quah Su-Ling as the masterminds behind the 2013 penny stock crash, accusing them of orchestrating "the most audacious, extensive and injurious market manipulation scheme ever in Singapore", in which they had intended to use the manipulated stocks as collateral for financing, which would in turn be used to perpetuate the illusion of a bull run.

When the prices of the penny stocks at the heart of the conspiracy - Blumont Group, Asiasons Capital (now Attilan Group) and LionGold Corp or collectively known as BAL - reached a desired level, the shares would also be used to finance corporate deals. After corporate announcements were made, the share prices would be driven up further, giving the appearance that the deals had a positive impact on the market.

The collateral grew more attractive as the scheme went on, and allowed the duo to obtain more and more financing, the prosecution said. "In effect, this was a vicious cycle of deception, cheating, and market manipulation."