Putting every sin at Soh’s doorstep?

SINGAPORE (July 9): Sreenivasan attempted to get Gan to agree that his client did not have that much control over the manipulation of BAL shares as painted out to be.

According to earlier testimonies given by prosecution witnesses, including Gan, Soh in September 2013 before the crash, had urged attendees at a presentation held at LionGold’s office to buy the three stocks. Those present at the event included Quah, Gwee, Tai and Wong Xue Yu.

“If John was controlling the accounts under these people, do you agree there was no reason for him to promote the company to them? He just has to give them instructions to go and buy, right?” asked Sreenivasan. Gan disagreed, saying Soh meant to encourage them to buy.

“They could take up the encouragement or they could not take up the encouragement?” asked Sreenivasan. “Of course, definitely,” replied Gan. “These people who were there being encouraged to buy were people who could make decisions on their own, right?” asked Sreenivasan. “Yes,” said Gan.

“John’s role was to persuade people to do things?” asked Sreenivasan. “Yes, I agree,” said Gan. “Just like you went to recruit people without telling him, just like you deciding how much to trade without getting instructions, just like you, who could decide to buy and sell at whatever price you felt was correct, everybody else there could do that as well. Right?” asked Sreenivasan. “Disagree,” said Gan.

Sreenivasan, citing discrepancies between Gan’s testimonies and what he had said in court, accused Gan of making things up, and that Gan, together with other brokers who had turned prosecution witnesses, were trying to pin all the blame on Soh. Gan explained he had suffered a stroke in 2018, which affected his memory.

“You see, Mr Gan, it is the defence case that you, Ken Tai, Dick Gwee — maybe, because he hasn’t given evidence yet — Henry Tjoa were all playing up these BAL shares and running operations, but when things went wrong, you all decided to put every sin at the doorstep of John Soh to cover yourselves,” said Sreenivasan. “That is why people like you were gathering evidence and recording conversations. That is why you can’t get your facts straight, because as Mark Twain has said, you don’t need to remember the truth. You are making up your stories,” added Sreenivasan.

Deputy public prosecutor Jiang Ke-Yue immediately objected to this line of questioning, saying it was not fair as Gan had tried to refer to price charts of the stocks involved to verify certain dates and prices, given how the incident took place back seven years ago. “He has asked twice, actually, and I think this is objectively verifiable,” said Jiang. “The reason you can’t get your facts straight is because your story is made up. Agree or disagree?” asked Sreenivasan. “Disagree,” said Gan.

“The reason you have to make up this story is, against the background of John Soh promoting these shares, there was a whole bunch of you playing your own games, manipulating the market. Agree or disagree?” asked Sreenivasan. “Disagree,” said Gan.

“Manipulating the market by taking an extra one and a half cents, like Ken Tai has said. Agreed?” asked Sreenivasan. “Disagree,” said Gan.

“Manipulating the market by doing deals for Dick Gwee to make money, agree or disagree?” asked Sreenivasan. “Disagree,” said Gan.

“Manipulating the market by getting family members and friends on board, hoping to catch a rising tide. Agree or disagree?” asked Sreenivasan. “Strongly disagree,” said Gan.

“That’s why you can’t get your facts straight,” said Sreenivasan. “I already told you, I suffered a stroke,” said Gan.

The Edge Singapore

09 July 2020