Oh Wee Hian sentenced for the biggest case of stock market price spoofing in SGX history.
SINGAPORE – Former dealer Oh Wee Hian has been sentenced to nine months in jail for illegally manipulating the prices of six stocks on the Singapore Exchange (SGX), in what is considered the largest case of stock market price spoofing detected on the exchange.
Between August 2020 and March 2021, Oh executed 215 manipulative trades that resulted in illicit gains of $255,385. His method involved placing small trades that were quickly cancelled, thus manipulating the market by artificially raising or lowering prices. Oh executed these trades using two accounts: one for regular stock trading and another for contracts for difference (CFD) trading.
The targeted stocks included Bonvests Holdings, Bund Center Investment, and Sinarmas Land, among others. The manipulation mainly occurred in illiquid stocks, where he could easily influence price movements. His biggest gains came from trading Bund Center Investment, where he netted $201,159 from 119 trades.
Oh’s tactics involved lowering prices by selling shares at below-market rates and then using his CFD account to buy at the artificially low prices. Afterward, he would buy shares at a higher price to push the market price up, profiting from the difference.
Following his arrest in 2023, the authorities froze over $130,000 of his funds in bank and CFD accounts. Oh pleaded guilty to charges related to his actions, with four additional charges taken into account during his sentencing. The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and the Commercial Affairs Department (CAD) led the joint investigation, highlighting the seriousness of his offenses.
This case marks the third conviction in Singapore for spoofing, with Oh’s profit being the largest to date.
