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SINGAPORE (Oct 31): The prosecution in the trial of alleged 2013 penny stock crash masterminds John Soh Chee Wen and Quah Su-Ling has made applications to cross examine former Phillip Securities remisier Joe Tiong Sing Fatt as a “hostile witness”. A hostile witness is one who deviates from prior statements made to law enforcement officers and gives evidence favouring the accused persons. Taking the stand this week, Tiong had proven to have been an uncooperative witness. Justice Hoo Sheau Peng has approved the application. However, Hoo said she would rule only at the end of the trial whether to allow the prosecution’s other application, which was to impeach Tiong’s credibility as a witness. Tiong is the final witness in this second tranche of the trial. The third tranche of the trial is expected to commence on Jan 2, 2020. More ties revealed In response to questions from deputy public prosecutor Nicholas Tan, Tiong on Thursday continued to give vague answer...

SINGAPORE (Oct 30): Joe Tiong Sing Fatt, a witness in the trial of alleged 2013 penny stock crash masterminds John Soh Chee Wen and Quah Su-Ling, in court on Wednesday was caught making a series of contradictory statements. The former Phillip Securities remisier had told the Commercial Affairs Department (CAD) that he had only met Quah once before, at a corporate function. However, Tiong had in court also revealed that he met Quah at a meeting at LionGold Corp – one of the three counters at the centre of the alleged penny stock manipulation scheme. Grilled by deputy public prosecutor Nicholas Tan on the inconsistency in his statements, Tiong told the court that he may have missed out on details in the statement due to “undue stress” which “may have affected” his memory. “I guess I’ve never taken a statement like this before, and the stress must have gotten to me,” said Tiong. The prosecution also called out several other statements that Tiong made in court as fals...

SINGAPORE (Oct 29): Adeline Cheng Jo-Ee, the ex-girlfriend of alleged 2013 penny stock crash mastermind John Soh Chee Wen, would often take “extreme actions” against people she dislikes or felt betrayed her, prosecution witness Ivy Tan Ai Bee reveal in court on Tuesday. “[Cheng] always threatened to give people legal letters,” Tan said under cross-examination by Philip Fong, managing director of Eversheds Harry Elias. Fong is the lawyer for Quah Su-Ling, Soh’s alleged co-conspirator and romantic partner. Tan, who earlier admitted to being Cheng’s “personal assistant cum general manager” at Alethia Asset Management, said she had left the company on bad terms with Cheng. According to Fong, Cheng had made false allegations against Tan, such as resigning without notice. She had also made these allegations to the police, Fong said. Cheng had even sent a lawyer letter to Tan for the alleged breach of her terms of employment. Tan also revealed that Cheng was jealous of Q...

SINGAPORE (Oct 25): The defence counsels for John Soh Chee Wen and Quah Su-Ling, the alleged masterminds behind the 2013 penny stock crash, in court on Friday sought to suggest that prosecution witness Ivy Tan Ai Bee was more than just a “personal assistant” to Soh’s former romantic partner. Tan is described as the PA to Adeline Cheng Jo-Ee, the ex-girlfriend of Soh and owner of Alethia Asset Management. Starting as a teller at the now-defunct Overseas Union Bank, Tan had worked her way up to later become an assistant vice president at Hong Kong Shanghai Banking Corporation, where she met Cheng. Tan had told the court on Thursday that she believed Cheng was asked to leave HSBC because of “performance issues”. Cheng later contacted Tan to work in Alethia as her personal assistant, she said. However, the court heard that Tan was appointed as a director of Alethia soon after joining the company. Under cross-examination by Soh’s lawyer, senior counsel N Sreenivasan of...

SINGAPORE (Oct 24): The former personal assistant to Adeline Cheng Jo-Ee, the former romantic partner of alleged 2013 penny stock crash mastermind John Soh Chee Wen, revealed in court on Thursday that she had suspected that Cheng’s company was involved in the manipulation on stocks. Prosecution witness Tan Ai Bee (main image), also known as Ivy, testified that she had worked with Cheng in her company, Alethia Asset Management – a small scale asset management firm. Tan told the court that she met Cheng at HSBC Private Bank, adding that she believed Cheng was asked to leave the bank because of “performance issues”. Cheng later contacted Tan to work in Alethia. Tan also revealed that she believed Cheng had difficulties obtaining her representative license. Soon after joining the company, Tan was appointed as a director of Altheia. According to Tan, Cheng told her that this was because the firm required at least two directors with relevant experience in order to obtain th...

SINGAPORE (Oct 22): Maybank Kim Eng Securities did not conduct internal investigations into accounts under broker Ong Kah Chye, even after receiving probes from the Commercial Affairs Department (CAD) and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), a representative of the brokerage admitted in court on Tuesday. These accounts under Ong are believed to have been part of a web of trading accounts used by alleged masterminds John Soh Chee Wen and Quah Su-Ling to manipulate shares in Blumont Group, LionGold Corp and Asiasons Capital (now Attilan Group) in the 2013 penny stock crash. Prosecution witness Kwek Thiam Buck, head of the retail brokerage trade support department at MBKE, said under cross-examination on Tuesday that the brokerage firm only knew of the severity of Ong’s involvement upon hearing from state prosecutors. “There was no basis to investigate until or unless we have evidence that the account was in misuse,” Kwek said. As head of MBKE’s client services margin ...

SINGAPORE (Oct 21): A representative from Singapore Telecommunications has revealed that calls made through Malaysian phone numbers to Singapore are “traceable”. Testifying at the trial of John Soh Chee Wen and Quah Su-Ling, the alleged masterminds behind the 2013 penny stock crash, prosecution witness Yeo Poh Meng shed light on the traceability of foreign calls made on Singtel’s network. As Singtel’s Customer Service Executive Officer – a role she has held for more than 10 years – Yeo is responsible for responding to requests for call screenings and call tracings from law enforcement agencies. In her conditioned statement, Yeo said she received requests from the Commercial Affairs Department (CAD) and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) to screen certain phone numbers, individuals and entities, and furnish details of any calls and SMS messages, including both local and overseas communications. Under cross-examination by Soh’s defence counsel led by senior couns...