Indonesian tycoon and chief executive of offshore and marine company KS Energy Kris Taenar Wiluan was charged yesterday with 112 counts in relation to violations of Section 197 of the Securities and Futures Act, which deals with false trading and market-rigging transactions.
Wiluan, also founder of Indonesia's Citramas Group, was accused of giving instructions, either personally or through Ho Chee Yen, a manager employed at his office, to trading representatives from CIMB Securities (Singapore) to buy shares of KS Energy through the trading account of Pacific One Energy, a company he controlled.
The purpose was to "push up" the share price of mainboard-listed KS Energy on 112 trading days between Dec 19, 2014 and Sept 13, 2016, according to the Singapore police.
Wiluan, 71, who was ranked Indonesia's 40th richest man by Forbes in 2009 with a personal net worth of US$240 million (S$328 million), was also accused of instructing Ngin Kim Choo, a CIMB Securities trading representative servicing the trading account of Pacific One, to buy KS Energy's shares to push up its prices during the said period.
Ho, 56, faces 92 counts of violating the Securities and Futures Act for intentionally aiding Wiluan in the alleged market rigging by relaying his instructions to Ngin and Yeo Jin Lui, another trader with CIMB Securities.
If convicted, the duo can be jailed for up to seven years and fined up to $250,000, for each charge of market rigging under the Securities and Futures Act.
Represented by Senior Counsel Jimmy Yim and Mr Mahesh Rai of Drew & Napier, Wiluan, a Singapore permanent resident (PR), is out on court bail of $250,000.
Ho, a Singaporean, who is being represented by Mr Chia Kok Seng of KSCGP Juris, is out on court bail of $70,000. Both have also surrendered their passports.
In 2017, Wiluan and his son Richard James Wiluan were interviewed by the Commercial Affairs Department (CAD) in its investigations into the potential contravention of Section 197 of the Securities and Futures Act. At the time, the elder Wiluan posted police bail and was released after his interview, while his son was released without requiring bail.
The company told the Singapore Exchange in April 2017 that "both have informed the board that they have and will continue to cooperate fully in the investigations, including granting access to all their electronic data, IT equipment and data storage devices from January 2015".
KS Energy, in an SGX announcement last night, said its business and operations have not been affected and will continue as usual. It added that Mr Richard James Wiluan has not been charged.
Shares of KS Energy, currently on SGX's watch list, closed unchanged at 1.6 cents yesterday.
