Appeal for stiffer sentence on illegal trading couple dismissed
Published on Aug 25, 2011
The High Court on Thursday dismissed the prosecution's appeal for a stiffer sentence to be imposed on a couple who have been convicted of illegal trading.
This after Wong Cui Lin and Fan Ying Kit had been fined a total of $120,000 for 'front-running', a variety of illegal trading and the first case of its kind to be prosecuted here.
Wong, 27, who worked at UBS Securities and whose job involved executing trades electronically for clients, would inform Fan, 30, of these in advance. Fan, an assistant manager at Phillip Securities, would then buy or sell shares, using his mother's account.
In the appeal, Deputy Public Prosecutor James Lee said the fine was 'not substantial at all' and may give the impression that front-running is a 'risk worth taking'.
But Chief Justice Chan Sek Kheong pointed out that the couple had lost their livelihood and in his dismissal added that the profit they made had not crossed the threshold of $30,000 - the benchmark for a custodial sentence.
Read the full story in Thursday's edition of The Straits Times.
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