Three charged with insider trading of Broadway Industrial shares

THREE people were charged on Thursday with several counts of contraventions under the Securities and Futures Act (SFA) and the Corruption, Drug Trafficking and Other Serious Crimes Act (CDSA).

The offences of the trio included insider trading of shares of mainboard-listed Broadway Industrial Group (BIG), communicating insider information concerning the company's shares, as well as the acquisition or transfer of property that represented benefits of criminal conduct.

In a release on Thursday, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) said two of the three individuals had purchased BIG shares ahead of the company's announcement on August 22, 2016, that it had entered into a conditional sale and purchase agreement to sell two of its businesses.

Tan Chee Keong, who was the chief financial officer of BIG at the time, had allegedly communicated "non-public and material information" concerning BIG's sale of its businesses to Tay Yew Khem and Hui Choy Leng.

Following a joint investigation by MAS and the Commercial Affairs Department, Tan was on Thursday charged with two counts of communicating insider information concerning BIG shares under Section 218(3)(a) of the SFA and one count of acquiring property that represented his benefits of criminal conduct under the CDSA.

Tay faces 13 charges in total, 12 of which are related to insider trading of BIG shares under Section 219(2)(a) of the SFA. He was also slapped with one count of transferring property representing his benefits of criminal conduct.

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Tan had allegedly also received a total of S$30,000 from Tay as benefits for communicating the insider information to the latter, said MAS.

Hui faces seven charges comprising six counts of insider trading of BIG shares under Section 219(2)(a) of the SFA and one count of unauthorised trading under Section 201(b) of the SFA.

She is also accused of "deceiving" OCBC Securities by using her father's account to purchase BIG shares without notifying the brokerage that she was the person conducting the transactions.

The case has been adjourned till Aug 26 to allow the accused parties to engage counsel for mitigation and to make representations.

If convicted, each charge under the respective sections of the SFA could warrant a maximum imprisonment term of seven years or a fine of up to S$250,000, or both. Each charge under Section 47 of the CDSA could warrant imprisonment of up to 10 years or a fine of up to S$500,000, or both.