Dr Goh Jin Hian. Photo: Albert Chua/The Edge Singapore

According to ChannelNewsAsia, Goh, who is also the son of former Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong, was slapped with 39 charges under the Securities and Futures Act (SFA).

The other three men charged, Kelvyn Oo Cheong Kwan, William Teo Thiam Chuan and Huang Yiwen, received 31 similar charges each.

Oo was the executive director and chief corporate officer at New Silkroutes while Teo was the group’s finance director previously. Huang was a commercial market maker that was engaged by the group.

Under the SFA, Goh was charged for conspiring with Oo, Teo and Huang to create a “misleading appearance” in the price of shares in New Silkroutes Group on 31 trading days between February 2018 and August 2018.

This was done via share buybacks done through the group’s corporate trading account as well as orders and trades made via Goh’s own investment account with DBS Private Bank.

Between February 2018 to August 2018, Goh had increased his stake in the company, buying 850,200 shares for $256,454 – or 30.16 cents per share – on 12 occasions.

Goh was CEO of the group from June 2015 and became its chairman in October 2020. He had, however, resigned from his position on Oct 15, 2020, “to devote more time to his personal affairs”.

Teo had also stepped down from his role on Oct 15, 2020, ostensibly to “focus on personal matters and to pursue other interests”.

That said, Goh and Teo’s resignation came after the group was asked to aid in investigations by the Commercial Affairs Department (CAD) on Sept 24, 2020.

If convicted, all four men face a jail term of up to seven years, a fine of $250,000, or both per charge.

As at 12.40pm, shares in New Silkroutes Group are trading flat at 7.5 cents.