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The Court of First Instance has ordered a former senior executive of an affiliate of Titan Petrochemical Group Limited (Titan), Mr Augustine Cheong Kai Tjieh and his mother, Ms Gan Ser Soon to pay investors after the Market Misconduct Tribunal (MMT) earlier found the pair engaged in insider dealing in the shares of Titan in 2012 (Notes 1 & 2).
The orders were final and were made by consent in proceedings brought by the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) under section 213 of the Securities and Futures Ordinance (SFO) (Notes 3 & 4).
The payments will be made out of the sum of $13,618,203 paid into Court by Cheong. The two were also ordered to pay the SFC’s legal costs.
Mr Bruno Arboit of Zolfo Cooper (Hong Kong) Limited was appointed by the Court to administer the distribution process.
Notes:
- Titan was listed on the Main Board of The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited in June 1998.
- In March 2017, the MMT found that Cheong and Gan had engaged in insider dealing within the meaning of section 270 of the SFO in respect of the shares of Titan. The MMT ordered Cheong and Gan to disgorge a total of $2,425,174, being the losses avoided by them in their insider dealing. The MMT also ordered Cheong and Gan to pay the costs incurred by the Government and the SFC in relation to the MMT proceedings. The MMT’s report is available on its website (www.mmt.gov.hk).
- In December 2012, the SFC commenced proceedings against Cheong under section 213 of the SFO and obtained an interim injunction freezing assets of up to $13,618,203 against Cheong. The interim injunction was subsequently discharged by the Court in January 2013 after Cheong had paid the same amount into the Court.
- For more details, please see the SFC’s press releases dated 21 December 2012, 25 January 2013, 6 December 2016 and 15 March 2017.
