Top executives of trading platform Samtrade FX charged with fraudulent practices, money laundering
Goh Nai De, Goh Li Xing and Alfred Yue Jingyuan allegedly engaged in a conspiracy to fraudulently tilt trades in certain trading accounts to make those accounts appear profitable, the police said.
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SINGAPORE: Three top executives of online trading platform Samtrade FX were charged in court on Wednesday (Dec 17) for engaging in fraudulent practices and money laundering.
Goh Nai De, Goh Li Xing and Alfred Yue Jingyuan allegedly engaged in a conspiracy in which Yue fraudulently tilted trades in certain trading accounts to make those accounts appear profitable, the police said in a news release on Wednesday.
These accounts were used in one of the products offered by Samtrade FX called "copy trading". This allowed clients to "copy" the trades executed by certain trading accounts.
Most of the clients' copy trades ultimately copied the trades in 11 accounts, named "Ultimate Trader" accounts, which were controlled by Yue, said the police.
Between Jan 1, 2021, and Dec 27, 2021, Yue adjusted the bid-ask spreads of trades in those accounts so that the copied trades appeared profitable to Samtrade FX clients, without them knowing the trades were fraudulently tilted.
A bid-ask spread is the difference between the highest price a buyer is willing to offer and the lowest price a seller is willing to accept.
During the same period, Goh Nai De, Goh Li Xing and Yue received funds totalling about S$8.7 million, S$4.8 million and S$650,000 respectively from the alleged fraudulent practices, derived from monies deposited by the clients who copied Yue's fraudulently tilted trades.
The three men are respectively the CEO, chief technology officer, and head of dealing and strategy at the trading platform.
Goh Nai De faces 11 counts each of engaging in fraudulent practices and money laundering offences.
Goh Li Xing faces 11 counts of engaging in fraudulent practices and seven counts of money laundering offences.
Yue faces 11 counts of engaging in fraudulent practices and eight counts of money laundering offences.
For the offence of engaging in fraudulent practices under the Securities and Futures Act, a person can be jailed for up to seven years, fined up to S$250,000, or both, for each charge.
For money laundering offences under the Corruption, Drug Trafficking and Other Serious Crimes Act, a person can be jailed for up to 10 years, fined up to S$500,000, or both, for each charge.
Investigations into Samtrade FX began in January 2022 following suspicions of irregular trading activities.
According to the police, the platform allowed its clients to "trade in contracts for differences in foreign exchange, indices, commodities and cryptocurrencies".
The company said on Jan 3, 2022 — the day the authorities announced their probe — that it had suspended its operations and filed for its entities to be placed in judicial management.
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