USING social media and messaging platforms to deal in shares may lead to a possible breach of the Securities and Futures Act (SFA).
On Thursday (Oct 10), Oon Yun Cong was handed down a 16-month jail term and fined S$12,105.70 under the SFA for inducing others to deal in shares.
He had pleaded guilty to two charges of making false statements to induce others to trade under Section 200(1)(a) of the SFA.
Another charge under the same section was taken into consideration for sentencing.
Section 200(1)(a) of the SFA mandates that, no person shall – by making or publishing any statement, promise or forecast that he knows (or ought reasonably to have known) to be misleading, false or deceptive – to induce, or attempt to induce, another person to deal in capital markets products.
Oon’s conviction is the result of a joint investigation by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and the Commercial Affairs Department of the Singapore Police Force.
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Investigations were opened against him on the back of referrals by the Singapore Exchange.
Between Apr 30 and Nov 23 in 2020, Oon was found to have made false statements on 10 occasions in two Telegram chat groups, namely “SGX Penny Stocks Discussion” and “SGX-Trade with the Wind” (TW2).
MAS said these statements were made to induce members of the chat groups to purchase shares in the securities held by Oon, who overstated his target sell price for the securities.
He also claimed to these chat group members that he had purchased shares in certain securities when he had not.
MAS further highlighted that Oon conspired with his friend, Kenneth Goh Jia Poh, to make similar false statements on six occasions in these Telegram chat groups over the same period.
Goh was convicted and sentenced to 19 months’ imprisonment and fined S$355,604 for multiple offences under the SFA on Dec 19, 2022.
His offences were related to false trading, unauthorised use of trading accounts, and fraudulently inducing others to deal in shares in a Telegram chat group.
An Oct 10 report on Channel News Asia said that Oon and Goh were day traders at the time of the time of their offences, and that they met while in National Service.