Pub Date: Nov 12, 2005 Pub: ST Page: H3
Author: GABRIELC
Headline: Ex-CEO pleads guilty to
rigging share price
By: Gabriel
Chen
Page Heading: Home
3 others also admit to manipulating ITE Electric price before share
placement
THE founder and former chief executive of Sesdaq-listed
ITE Electric, a
wholesaler of electrical products, yesterday pleaded guilty to rigging its
share price.
Sixty-year-old Sia Teck
Mong, along with two of his former directors,
68-year-old Gan Cheng Siew
and Foo Jong Kan, 50 - and
the latter's brother Foo
Yung Kuan, 48 - admitted to manipulating the
share price ahead of a private
share placement in 2001.
A fifth person, 69-year-old Seow Cheong Kiong, was charged over
the same
incident and had his pre-trial conference set for next Thursday.
The two Foo brothers are also directors of
a company that is a substantial
shareholder of ITE Electrical, Foo Chee Jeow & Sons Holdings'
(FCJH).
They are said to have conspired to make buy and sell orders in ITE
Electrical just as the stock market was about to close on May 15, 2001.
Their intention was to deflate the closing price of ITE shares, the
court
heard.
After the close of trading, ITE proposed a placement of five million
shares
at 31.5 cents apiece.
Seow, acting as FCJH's
unnamed nominee, purchased the shares through
placement agent RHB-Cathay Securities, which was later bought by UOB-Kay Hian.
The court was earlier told that Foo Jong
deceived RHB, which would not have facilitated the transaction
had it known the
facts of the case.
A mitigation hearing for the Foo brothers
was yesterday adjourned to Nov 24.
Their sentencing, plus that of Sia and Gan, has also been adjourned to Nov
25.
Under the Securities Industry Act, a person found guilty of
manipulating
share prices faces a maximum punishment of seven years in jail and a
$250,000
fine.
In mitigation, Sia's lawyer Peter Cuthbert
Low said that his client was
remorseful, noting that Sia had resigned from his
post at ITE Electrical soon
after being charged.
The father of two had suffered a loss of income and faced potential
financial difficulties in retirement, Mr Low
said.
Sia was self-employed, providing business
consultancy services, while his
wife was a home-maker.
Founded in 1982 and listed on the Sesdaq
board in 1994, ITE Electric is
mainly a wholesaler of electrical distribution and control products.
gabrielc@sph.com.sg