A WOMAN named Tan Su Lan has received a civil penalty of S$100,000 for false trading in the shares of jewellery retailer Aspial Corporation and property developer Far East Orchard (FEO), the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) announced on Wednesday (May 11).

In its press statement, MAS said that Tan had executed her trades in a manner that was likely to create a false appearance with respect to the price of the shares.

The authority noted that she was also “reckless” as to whether the trades would be likely to create such a false appearance.

Specifically, Tan had purchased shares of Aspial and FEO near or during the close of the days’ trading sessions for 3 consecutive days in May 2016. This resulted in her purchases artificially raising and setting the closing prices of both counters on all 3 days.

Shares of both companies were pledged by Tan as collateral for share margin purposes. As the closing prices of Aspial and FEO had an impact on the value of her collateral, Tan’s collateral increased correspondingly.

Tan has admitted liability for her actions and paid MAS the civil penalty.

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Tan Su Lan is also the name of Aspial chief executive officer Koh Wee Seng’s mother, who founded one of the group’s brands, Lee Hwa Jewellery.

“Trading behaviour that has the effect of distorting prices adversely affect the fair and orderly functioning of our capital markets. MAS will take firm action against participants who are reckless as to whether their trades are likely to create a false appearance in the prices of securities,” said Loo Siew Yee, assistant managing director of policy, payments and financial crime at the MAS.