Former CEO of New Silkroutes Group Goh Jin Hian among 4 men charged with false trading

SINGAPORE: Goh Jin Hian, the former chief executive officer of investment holding company New Silkroutes Group, was charged on Wednesday (Sep 20) with false trading offences.

The 54-year-old man, who is the son of former Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong, was handed 39 charges under the Securities and Futures Act.

He was charged along with three other men linked to New Silkroutes: Kelvyn Oo Cheong Kwan, 52, former executive director and chief corporate officer at New Silkroutes; 54-year-old William Teo Thiam Chuan, a former finance director at the group; and 40-year-old Huang Yiwen, a commercial market maker engaged by New Silkroutes.

Broadly, Goh is accused of conspiring with the other three men to create a misleading appearance of the price of New Silkroutes' securities on 31 trading days between February 2018 and August 2018.

The alleged price manipulative orders and trades include share buybacks conducted through New Silkroutes' corporate trading account.

Goh is also accused of pushing up the price of New Silkroutes' securities by placing orders and executing trades using his DBS Private Bank investment account. This allegedly occurred over eight trading days between August 2018 and December 2018.

The three other men received 31 similar charges each.

Goh was represented by Mr Navin Thevar from Davinder Singh Chambers. Oo was represented by Senior Counsel N Sreenivasan and Mr S Balamurugan from K&L Gates Straits Law, while Rajah & Tann's Mr Thong Chee Kun and Ms Ng Pei Qi represented Teo.

Huang was defended by Ms Diana Ngiam and Ms Joyce Khoo from Quahe Woo & Palmer.

Goh was CEO of the group from June 2015 but took over as chairman in October 2020.

In an announcement on the Singapore Exchange (SGX) in October 2020, Goh resigned from his role as chairman of the group "to devote more time to his personal affairs".

At the same time, his co-accused Teo also resigned as finance director, citing that it was to "focus on personal matters and to pursue other interests".

In a news release after the hearing, the police said the charges arose from a joint investigation by the police's Commercial Affairs Department and the Monetary Authority of Singapore.

Goh, Teo and Oo will return to court next month.

Of the four men, Huang is the only one who might receive more charges, the prosecution told the court. He will return to court for a further mention in November.

If convicted, the men face a jail term of up to seven years, a fine of up to S$250,000 (US$183,100), or both per charge.