Hefty $2.97 million civil penalty imposed on ex-aide of Jade Technologies' chief

An ex-staff of Jade Technologies has been fined a hefty $2.97 million for insider trading and manipulation of trading accounts in trades related to the 2008 botched takeover of the firm.

Mr Norman Phua was slapped with the fine after the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) commenced civil penalty court action against him.

He was the assistant to former Jade Technologies chief executive Anthony Soh from November 2007 to April 2008.

Mr Phua was found to have used non-public and materially price-sensitive information concerning the proposed takeover of Jade Technologies to make a profit of $50,160.90 and to avoid a loss of $1,096,005 in 2008.

He had used another person's trading account, Mr Ng Yu Jin, to carry out the transactions.

Mr Ng had admitted to letting Mr Phua use the trading account and was fined $50,000 by the MAS last year.

In Feb 2008, Dr Soh made a takeover offer for Jade Technologies, helping the company's stock to soar.

He subsequently withdrew the takeover offer in April the same year, leading to a slump in Jade Technologies' share prices.

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