Repco Low found guilty of 20-year-old share manipulation charge (Update)

Former Repco Holdings Bhd chairman Low Thiam Hock (Right) was found guilty of manipulating the company's share price, an offence he committed nearly 20 years ago

KUALA LUMPUR: Former Repco Holdings Bhd chairman Low Thiam Hock was found guilty of manipulating the company's share price, an offence he committed nearly 20 years ago.

Low, better known as Repco Low in stock market circles, was found guilty by the Sessions Court on Monday under  Section 84(1) of the Securities Industry Act 1983 (SIA), which carries the penalty of a minimum fine of RM1mil and maximum jail term of up to 10 years. 

The court has set Jan 19 for sentencing. 

To recap, Low was charged for the market manipulation of Repco shares under section 84(1) of the Securities Industry Act 1983. He was acquitted and discharged by the Session Court on Nov 14, 2006. 

On Oct 15, 2010, the High Court dismissed the prosecution's appeal against the acquittal. The prosecution then filed an appeal to the Court of Appeal. 

On Feb 28, 2013, the Court of Appeal allowed the Prosecution’s appeal and ordered the Accused to enter his defence at the Sessions Court.

In allowing the appeal by the Securities Commission, the Court of Appeal had unanimously held that the charge against Low, as it stood, was sufficient to “describe and sustain” the said offence.

Low was then ordered to enter his defence against the charge of instructing a dealer's representative at Sime Securities Sdn Bhd to purchase Repco shares “by taking up any offer prices of the said shares offered by the sellers, which act was calculated to create a misleading appearance with respect to the price of Repco shares on the KLSE on 3 Dec 1997”. 

On March 7, 2013, the case was reverted to the Sessions Court for Low to enter his defence.

Low got his nickname when he was a director of Repco, at the time a Sabah-based gaming company whose stock was a highflier in the 1996 second board stock market bull run.

The company's shares flew to 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 and de-listed three years later.