This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on January 12, 2016.
KUALA LUMPUR: Former executive chairman of Sabah-based Repco Holdings Bhd, Low Thiam Hock, more popularly known as Repco Low for gaining notoriety as a market mover in the 1990s, has been found guilty of market manipulation involving the shares of Repco 19 years ago.
The Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court yesterday found Low, 53, guilty after a trial that began on Oct 30, 2000 that saw the prosecution call 25 witnesses, while the defence called eight witnesses.
In convicting Low, Judge Mat Ghani Abdullah found that Low had failed to raise a reasonable doubt on the prosecution’s case, and that his defence only amounted to a bare denial and an afterthought.
Low was convicted for acts calculated to create a misleading appearance with respect to the price of Repco shares on the-then Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange (KLSE) on Dec 3, 1997, an offence under section 84(1) of the Securities Industry Act 1983 (SIA). The purchases of Repco shares on the said day caused Repco’s share price to rise from RM103 to finally close at RM113.
The judge is expected to deliver his sentence on Jan 19 after granting Low’s lawyer Edmund Bon’s application for time to prepare his mitigation for a lighter sentence for Low. Under Section 91 of SIA, Low is liable to a minimum fine of RM1 million and up to 10 years’ jail.
In the meantime, Low is required to surrender his passport to the court.
Low, dressed in a white shirt, appeared calm in court yesterday. Bon said Low will appeal to the High Court.
Low was charged by the Securities Commission Malaysia (SC) in the Sessions Court on Sept 18, 1999 with instructing a Sime Securities Sdn Bhd representative to purchase Repco shares at any price from sellers on the KLSE, to create a false impression of the company’s share value. At the end of the prosecution’s case, the Sessions Court acquitted Low on the basis that the charge was not proven.
The SC then appealed to the High Court, which affirmed the Sessions Court’s decision.
The Court of Appeal, however, on Feb 28, 2013, overturned the decision of the High Court and ordered Low to defend the charge against him, reverting the case back to the Sessions Court.
Yesterday, Justice Mat Ghani, who has presided over the case since it was passed back to the Sessions Court in 2013, said that after looking into all the proceeding notes, evidence from Low and the witnesses, the court was satisfied with the prosecution’s case.
He held that the court was satisfied that Low, through the manner of buying 227,000 units of Repco shares on Dec 3, 1997, had in fact created a misleading appearance as to the price of Repco shares on the stock exchange.
Low’s lawyer said in his defence that there was no manipulation of share market, as Low was merely buying the 227,000 of shares, representing 1% stakes in the company, that was wrongly sold by Sime Securities.
Repco’s stock was a high-flyer during the 1996 Second Board stock market bull run. The company’s shares hit a high of RM140.50 per share in September 1997, but collapsed to just RM2.98 less than a year later. In October 2000, the stock was suspended from trading on Bursa Malaysia as it did not have an adequate level of financial condition and was delisted in August 2003.
