Singapore’s Court of Appeal has upheld the convictions of John Soh Chee Wen and Quah Su-Ling, sealing their fate as the masterminds behind the largest securities fraud in the history of the Asian financial hub.
The pair were found guilty in 2022 of running a syndicate that rigged the share prices of Blumont Group, Asiasons Capital and Liongold Corp – collectively known in court documents as BAL – using money from financial institutions that had been misled into providing loans.
Soh and Quah, both Malaysians, challenged the ruling. The appeal hearing kicked off on March 3 this year and lasted four days over two tranches, which concluded on May 8.
Soh and Quah, both Malaysians, challenged the ruling. The appeal hearing kicked off on March 3 this year and lasted four days over two tranches, which concluded on May 8.
Quah, seen before this morning's court session / Photo: Albert Chua
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Delivering the apex court’s decision on Oct 10 via videoconferencing, Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon dismissed the arguments both appellants’ lawyers raised during the appeal hearing.
The court’s full written judgement on the appeal is contained in a 140-page report.
Various “incriminating communications”, typically in the form of text messages and emails, “clearly showed the appellants conveying trading instructions to the various trading representatives and relevant account holders,” Menon said.
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“No satisfactory explanation was proffered by either appellant to account for the incriminating correspondence.”
The Chief Justice also said Soh’s attempts to assign culpability to the so-called Manhattan House Group did not hold water.
This group, according to court documents, refers to four individuals who actively traded the three stocks in 2012 and 2013.
All four – Dick Gwee, Ken Tai, Henry Tjoa and Gabriel Gan – ran their trading operations out of a rented office unit in Manhattan House, a commercial building along Chin Swee Road.
“We are satisfied that there was no basis to interfere with the judge’s decision to reject this counter narrative,” said Menon.
“The appellants have failed to demonstrate that the judge was clearly wrong in her analysis of the available evidence, or that the findings she made were clearly against the weight of the evidence.”
On Soh’s witness tampering charges, the trial judge was right in finding him guilty, Menon said.
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“The witness tampering charges all involved various attempts by the first appellant to minimize his involvement in the scheme and/or to redirect suspicion to other persons.
“This raised the question of why the first appellant had thought such conduct to be necessary if the appellants were truly innocent.”
Soh, who has been in remand since 2016, was not present in court but witnessed the hearing virtually. He sat stone-faced throughout the session.
Quah was in the dock as the Chief Justice read out the court’s decision.
Quah’s lawyer, N Sivananthan, sought for her bail to be extended so she could have some time to surrender herself to begin her sentence.
After a brief deliberation, CJ Menon rejected the request. He also said Quah was a flight risk now that her appeal has failed.
“While her eventual sentence is yet to be determined, she is subject to an existing sentence of 20 years, and there is no reason or basis to postpone the commencement of service of sentence until the disposal of the appeal, which is fixed for next month,” he said.
Soh was convicted in 2022 of 180 charges and sentenced by High Court Judge Hoo Sheau Peng to 36 years in jail. He was denied bail following a failed attempt to flee Singapore after being charged.
Quah was found guilty of 169 charges and given 20 years behind bars. She had posted bail of $4 million after being charged in 2016 together with Soh.
The charges involved false trading, price manipulation, deception, cheating and – in the case of Soh – witness tampering.
Quah was given a week by the court until Oct 17 to begin her sentence. Until then, her bail has been raised to $6 million.
The scheme by Soh and Quah ran from August 2012 to October 2013 and ended abruptly when the three stocks collapsed on Oct 4, 2013, wiping out more than $8 billion in market value.
A total of 189 trading accounts opened with 20 financial institutions were used for manipulating the BAL shares.
