Timeline: John Soh and Quah Su-Ling’s marathon trial comes to a close
JOHN Soh and Quah Su-Ling’s trial for their involvement in an October 2013 penny stock crash that wiped S$8 billion in market capitalisation from penny stocks in the Singapore Exchange (SGX) has arrived at the finish line.
After some 200 days in court across nearly four years, Soh was on Wednesday (Dec 28) sentenced to 36 years’ imprisonment – including his time in remand since Nov 25, 2016 – while Quah was sentenced to 20 years’ imprisonment.
Both have applied to stay their sentence and will mount appeals.
In May, the duo were found guilty of all the market manipulation and cheating charges laid before them. Soh was found guilty of 180 of 188 charges faced, while Quah was convicted of 169 of the 177 charges faced.
Their accomplice, Goh Hin Calm, was in 2019 sentenced to 36 months’ jail after pleading guilty to abetment charges.
The entire saga predicates on “wash trading” – an industry term for a form of market manipulation, in which a trader buys and sells a stock simultaneously, creating an illusion of demand for the security. This series of actions then artificially inflates the price of the stock.
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In Soh and Quah’s case, some 187 trading accounts connected through 20 financial institutions and held in the names of 58 individuals and companies – including Soh’s sons and relatives, and Quah’s family – were used to manipulate the share prices of three companies.
Those companies were Blumont Group, Asiasons Capital and Liongold Corp.
Below is a timeline of events – harkening back over a decade – leading to Soh and Quah’s sentencing.
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2012
Aug 1, 2012: Soh and Quah – who were romantically linked at the time – began their manipulation scheme. Between Aug 1, 2012 and Oct 3, 2013, Soh and Quah manipulated the share prices of Blumont, Asiasons and Liongold with Goh’s assistance.
As a result, the share prices of each individual counter surged by at least 800 per cent in the nine months before the subsequent crash.
Using the companies’ artificially inflated shares as collateral, Soh and Quah additionally deceived Goldman Sachs and Interactive Brokers into extending margin financing and paying out more than S$230 million to finance the gambit.
2013
Oct 4, 2013: Share prices of the three companies collapsed, sparking a wider sell-off in penny stocks on the SGX. The market capitalisation of the three companies stood at S$9.3 billion at the close of Oct 3, 2013. By the time their stocks were suspended on Oct 4, their market value had more than halved to S$4.1 billion.
Over two days, each counter cratered between 82 and 94 per cent. All in, some S$8 billion in market capitalisation was wiped out among penny stocks on the SGX.
2014
Apr 2, 2014: The Commercial Affairs Department (CAD) launched an investigation into what was then described as the Republic’s largest securities fraud probe. As part of the investigation, CAD searched over 50 locations and interviewed more than 70 people. Additionally, some two million emails, half a million trade orders, thousands of phone records, and financial statements were analysed.
2016
Nov 24, 2016: Soh, Quah and Goh were arrested.
Nov 25, 2016: Soh and Quah were charged under the Securities and Futures Act for cheating offences, while Goh was charged with abetment.
2017
Feb 28, 2017: Soh was denied bail. At this point, he faced 188 charges, including seven fresh charges for witness tampering. Bail was previously set at S$4 million for Quah and at S$750,000 for Goh.
2018
Feb 27, 2018: Soh was denied bail a second time.
2019
Mar 20, 2019: Goh pleaded guilty to two of six charges of abetment, and was sentenced to 36 months’ jail for his role as Soh and Quah’s accomplice.
Mar 25, 2019: Soh and Quah’s trial began.
2022
May 5, 2022: After a trial spanning 194 hearing days, Soh and Quah were found guilty of all market manipulation and cheating charges laid before them. Both were acquitted of eight charges of deception. Soh was found guilty of 180 of 188 charges faced; Quah was convicted of 169 of 177 charges faced.
Dec 28, 2022: Soh was sentenced to 36 years’ imprisonment, including his time in remand since Nov 25, 2016. Quah has been sentenced to 20 years’ imprisonment. Both are appealing against their sentences.
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