Financial adviser, bank new players in penny stock saga
Algo Capital’s mailing address is in Bishan, which is the residential address of its owner and chief executive Ken Tai Chee Ming.
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Rachel Scully, Straits Times
30 November 2013
A financial adviser and a bank have surfaced as new players in the saga involving penny stocks Blumont Group, Asiasons Capital and LionGold Corp.
On Thursday, it emerged that US discount broker Interactive Brokers Group had taken legal action against six Malaysians and two firms.
Interactive Brokers had sought an interim injunction to freeze the assets of the eight parties, including Blumont executive chairman Neo Kim Hock and Ipco International chief executive Quah Su-Ling.
The eight parties collectively owe Interactive Brokers more than $79 million (see box).
The Straits Times has obtained papers filed with the High Court which show that the eight account holders had asked for financial adviser Algo Capital Group to “trade on their behalf”.
Algo Capital’s mailing address is in Bishan, which is the residential address of its owner and chief executive Ken Tai Chee Ming.
Interactive Brokers’ deputy general counsel Jeffrey David Fox said in his affidavit filed earlier this month that there were “suspicious trading activities through the defendants’ accounts” made by Algo Capital.
“(Algo Capital) often bought and sold large amounts of the companies’ shares in the same account(s) on the same day at the same price,” court papers state.
“(These put) the accounts back where they started, but (gave) the market the appearance that the stocks were more heavily traded than they were.”
Simply put, the defendants may have been involved in a “pump and dump” scheme to artificially generate trading volume in Blumont, Asiasons and LionGold to maintain and drive up their share prices, said Mr Fox.
Trades by Algo Capital through the eight accounts also made up substantial portions in the daily trade volumes of the three stocks. For instance, it had accounted for more than 80 per cent of LionGold’s trades in a day, state court papers.
Separately, court records show that a unit of The Bank of East Asia has joined the fray.
Its Singapore branch has sought the court’s permission to change the injunction order which freezes the assets of six individuals and two companies.
THE six people and two firms:
• Neo Kim Hock: $26,525,072.34
• Peter Chen Hing Woon: $16,438,225.94
• Tan Boon Kiat: $15,302,788.95
• Quah Su-Ling: $10,184,256.75
• Lee Chai Huat: $4,095,137.49
• Kuan Ah Ming: $1,460,881.50
• Sun Spirit Group: $4,779,593.44
• Neptune Capital Group: $264,372.45
• TOTAL: $79,050,328.86