Photo of John Soh: Bloomberg
John Soh’s evidence on not giving instructions on trades was challenged once again on June 1, the fourth day of the prosecution’s cross-examination.
Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Teo Guan Siew showed the court several instances where Soh – the alleged mastermind of the saga – had seemingly giving instructions to Adeline Cheng Jo-Ee for trades to be made in the account of Neo Kim Hock.
One of Soh’s close associates, Neo was formerly the executive chairman of Blumont while Cheng, who runs her own firm Alethia Asset Management, has been described as Soh’s “on again and off again girlfriend,” during the trial.
Soh and his co-accused and other romantic partner Quah Su-Ling are on trial for allegedly orchestrating Singapore’s largest share manipulation scheme between 2012 and 2013 involving three stocks: Blumont Group, Asiasons Capital (now Attilan Group) and LionGold, which has since become Shen Yao Holdings.
The eventual collapse of these counters – collectively referred to as BAL – in October 2013 wiped out some $8 billion in market value.
A boss?
In one instance, Cheng told Soh that 1.4 million LionGold shares have been bought at $1.055 under Neptune’s account with Credit Suisse. The account had been managed by Neo.
“I will say she kept me – informed of [the trade] being done, yes,” Soh responded when pressed if Cheng had been informing him.
He went on to say that he is “worried about the word ‘reporting’” and agreed that Cheng had informed him of the trade.
In another instance on 10 Oct 2012, Cheng told Soh that she’s on “standby” soon after she’s asked to “take 100 at 1.07”.
According to Soh, Neo would have already decided on the portfolio construction with Credit Suisse and Cheng. As such Soh’s role was only to assist Neo in “trying to accumulate at better prices”.
Soh added that the objective for most people who are committed to a portfolio is to try and collect and accumulate shares at better prices without running the risk of being “front-run by opportunistic private bankers”.
Front running occurs when a broker trades a stock while knowing of a future transaction that could possibly affect its price substantially.
These circumstances pushed Neo to tell Cheng, “okay do your coordination. If John is free, get him to advise you,” Soh explained, adding that he would do his part by giving his inputs.
Even so, he stressed that Neo was the one to make the final decision.
“I’m the one that guides them,” he notes, referring to Cheng and Neo.
With some of the trades put in by Cheng being just two minutes after her correspondence with Soh, DPP Teo asked how Neo could have given his nod of approval.
To this Soh said Neo might have given Cheng a certain latitude in terms of price and volume. “I’m not sure, but I would know for sure that decisions had been made and it’s an accumulation exercise,” he added.
Soh’s advice-giving also extended to trades made under Alethia Elite which was Cheng’s family account that went on to become a temporary account arrangement of sorts for Billy Ooi, another known associate of Soh.
The arrangement happened when Cheng offered the account to function as a warehouse account for around two to three weeks, before the trades were put into Alethia Elite.
On one occasion, Cheng is seen asking Soh if there are any last orders to be made in this account at around 5pm.
“No, darling, stand down, relax,” Soh replied.
“It appears to be you making the decision,” DPP Teo puts forth.
“It’s part of a grand scheme of things,” Soh says, adding that Cheng had been asked to look towards him for guidance on how to trade.
In this case, he noted that “nobody in their right sense” would want to collect shares around 10 minutes before the market closes, as it will “really drive the price down”.
In another instance, Soh is seen telling Cheng, “owe you one darling”.
The context of this, Soh claimed, was that Cheng had offered to warehouse 500 shares to placate Neo after Credit Suisse threatened to close his account and dump his shares.
“Mr Neo was after her and was on the warpath. Everybody felt it [so] it is good to have some peace,” he says in explanation for his text.
DPP Teo put across that the shares were meant for Soh and that’s why he told Cheng he owes her one.
Soh disagreed.
Soh also told that court that Cheng had sent several messages “pestering” him and saying things to the tune of “I am your girlfriend, why you never take care of me,”.
At that time, Cheng was looking to build a name for herself and was working towards getting her brokerage license.
This also made her “paranoid of being competed against” by other traders like William Chan, Soh said.
“Other than my fixation with her, everyone was very much pilloried with her,” he added.
In spite of being appeased by Cheng’s 500 shares in warehouse offer, Neo and Cheng were not on the best of terms with the latter fearing he would speak to the bank.
Cheng was also constantly bugging several of Soh’s associates like his brother and Peter Chen Hing Woon in hopes of getting more business.
In this time, Cheng is seen telling Soh, “in the long run, you will need to hedge your dependence on her and her nominees”, in reference to Quah whom she viewed as her romantic rival.
“I will my darling,” Soh replied.
The context of this, the court heard was that Cheng wanted him to cut off all ties with Quah.
“I don’t know how to say that without feeling all funny all over – she was working with me to conceal more things with Su-Ling, and she was getting more ambitious on the relationship,” he elaborated.
By saying, “I will”, Soh hoped to buy time.
“I disagree,” he responded when pressed by DPP Teo on whether Quah was bringing her nominees and contacts into the pool of accounts that the both of them supposedly controlled.
The trial resumes on June 2 with DPP Teo continuing with his cross examination of Soh.
