Eurosports Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer gets fine for false trading in Singapore
On 9 Sept, Singapore police announced the conviction of Melvin Goh Kim San, the Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of luxury car distributor Eurosports Global Limited (Eurosports).
He was sentenced to a S$210,000 fine after pleading guilty to three counts of false trading.
Image by MS News
Cross-traded company shares on numerous occasions
According to the news release, Goh had three trading accounts in his name between 3 June 2015 and 31 July 2018.
The 69-year-old Singaporean also had control over three other trading accounts belonging to third parties.
Authorities found that Goh transacted Eurosports shares among these accounts on 31 occasions over 13 days.
These trades, which accounted for between 42.1% and 90.9% of the traded volume on the relevant trading days, contributed significantly to the total market traded volume of Eurosports shares.
Source: @eurosportsglobal on Instagram
Avoided disclosing company share purchases
Goh knew that his trades were likely to create a false or misleading appearance of active trading in Eurosports shares.
As he was the beneficial owner of all the Eurosports shares involved in the said transactions, there was also no change in beneficial ownership.
However, Goh continued to trade in such a manner to create an appearance that Eurosports shares were actively traded in the market.
He also avoided disclosing his Eurosports share purchases by misusing the third-party accounts.
As the CEO of Eurosports, he was expected to share such information.
However, he chose not to do so as he found it burdensome, reported CNA.
Source: Rafael Minguet Delgado on Pexels, for illustration purposes
Pleaded guilty and sentenced to a fine of S$210,000
Following a referral from the Singapore Exchange Securities Trading Limited, the Commercial Affairs Department of the Singapore Police Force and the Monetary Authority of Singapore worked in a joint investigation to convict Goh of his crimes.
Consequently, Goh pleaded guilty to the three charges of false trading under Section 197(1A)(a) of the Securities and Futures Act, Cap 289 (“SFA”).
The court thus sentenced Goh to a fine of S$210,000, which he paid for in full.
In court, Deputy Public Prosecutors Magdalene Huang and Wong Shiau Yin asserted that Goh acted out of self-interest and personal gain.
As a result of his sustained efforts, they sought a total fine of S$250,000.
The sentencing took into consideration another 16 SFA charges relating to false trading, unauthorised trading, and failure to give notice of changes in his interests in Eurosports shares.
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Featured image by MS News and adapted from Rafael Minguet Delgado on Pexels.