Breaking down a stock market fraudster’s appeal
John Soh, also an ex-PKR financier, is seeking to overturn his conviction in Singapore.
On Friday, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) nabbed Malaysiakini journalist B. Nantha Kumar for allegedly receiving a RM20,000 bribe from an agent dealing with foreign workers, in return for not publishing two news articles about its activities.
The MACC then issued a statement yesterday that Nantha Kumar allegedly took the bribe to remove a published article and to discontinue reporting on the said agency, linked to a syndicate1.
Nantha Kumar, who has been remanded for four days, isn’t a rookie reporter. If you looked at his byline with Malaysiakini, he has been exposing the migrant services space for sometime.
The news is shocking. This is, perhaps, the first time that a journalist has been arrested for allegedly receiving a bribe.
Yes, there are questions with the way this entire drama is being played out. But as this is a criminal investigation, we can only wait and see.
Hopefully, the odds are in Nantha Kumar’s favour. Otherwise, not only Malaysiakini’s reputation would take a beating, but the rest of us are equally screwed — the entire industry will be affected. We’ll then have our own eFishery moment.
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Over the next two days, Singapore’s appeals court will be hearing submissions from convicted market manipulators John Soh Chee Wen and Quah Su-ling.
Soh, a 66-year-old Malaysian, wore many hats: a businessman, an ally of now-PM Anwar Ibrahim and financier of political party PKR, as well as a stock market manipulator. Quah, meanwhile, was his former girlfriend and partner in crime.
Both were found guilty of manipulating shares of Blumont Group, Asiasons Capital and Liongold Corp between August 2012 and October 2013.
The duo were involved in what has been dubbed Singapore’s largest securities fraud.
Soh, an undischarged bankrupt, was convicted of 180 charges and sentenced by the High Court on December 28, 2022, to 36 years in jail. Quah was found guilty of 169 charges and given 20 years’ prison.
The charges involved false trading, price manipulation, deception, cheating and witness tampering, with 95 prosecution witnesses taking the stand during the trial, which ended in June 2021.
Soh and Quah were granted a stay on execution of their sentences pending their appeal which will be heard by a three-judge panel tomorrow and Tuesday.
The three stock counters — collectively known as BAL — crashed in October 2013 after a massive run in the preceding months, wiping out more than S$8 billion (RM26 billion) from the Singapore Exchange (SGX).
189 accounts belonging to 58 individuals and corporate nominees were used for trading BAL stocks before they crashed.
The BAL companies were either helmed by Malaysians or had Malaysian shareholders. Several banks, such as Goldman Sachs and Saxo Bank, were also tapped to help fund the purchase of these shares.
This time, defence lawyers are zeroing in on the credibility of key prosecution witnesses in a move to try and quash the harsh sentences meted out for Soh and Quah.
Some PKR veterans will be watching this case closely, since Soh has been linked to the party since the ‘90s. He supposedly left PKR before 2013’s penny stock pump-and-dump.
Today’s newsletter will zero in on two parts: 1) a backgrounder on who exactly is this colourful character and 2) details about his appeal that is scheduled to begin tomorrow, based on court submissions filed in Singapore last month.