Trader convicted, sentenced for offences under Securities and Futures Act

USING multiple trading accounts, Kenneth Goh Jia Poh repeatedly entered and deleted buy orders for multiple securities for which he had no intention to fill, thereby inflating stock prices and profiting from the difference.

On Monday (Dec 19), Goh was convicted and sentenced to 19 months’ imprisonment, and fined S$355,604 for multiple offences under the Securities and Futures Act (SFA). The offences relate to false trading, unauthorised use of trading accounts, and fraudulently inducing others to deal in shares.

Goh had pleaded guilty to a total of four charges under various sections of the SFA.

One charge was for creating a false appearance on 325 occasions with respect to the market for multiple securities, while another two were for deceiving brokerages UOB Kay Hian and OCBC Securities. Another charge was for making false statements to induce others to trade.

Another four charges were taken into consideration for the purpose of sentencing.

According to the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), Goh had used a “spoofing and layering” technique between January 2016 and September 2018 to artificially inflate stock prices.

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By repeatedly entering and deleting buy orders for multiple securities, Goh created a false impression of interest in those securities. Once that interest resulted in share prices rising, he would sell his original stake for profit.

Investigations also found that Goh had used various trading accounts – including four which did not belong to him – without duly notifying the relevant brokerages.

Separately, while he was already under investigation for false trading between July and August 2020, Goh made false statements on nine occasions in a Telegram chat group to induce members in the group to purchase shares in the securities which he held, MAS said.

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“MAS does not condone trading behaviour that distorts and interferes with the proper discovery of price and market demand for securities,” said Loo Siew Yee, assistant managing director of policy, payments and financial crime at MAS.

“The present case is also a reminder that investors should be alert to the risks of trading based on recommendations or claims in online discussion forums and social media chat groups.”