High Court rules in favour of SC in Patimas claim

PETALING JAYA: The High Court has ruled in favour of the Securities Commission (SC) in its civil suit against a former executive director of Patimas Computers Bhd for insider trading.

In a statement, the markets regulator said Datuk Ng Back Heang was ordered to pay the SC a sum of Rm1.24mil, which is three times the losses he avoided as a result of the insider trading.

In addition, Ng was also ordered to pay a civil penalty of RM700,000 and RM100,000 in costs to the SC and was barred from being appointed as a director of a public-listed company for five years starting yesterday.

The case was heard by Judicial Commissioner Tuan Muhammad Amin Wan Yahya, who found that Ng had breached Section 188(2)(a) of the Capital Markets and Services Act 2007.

According to the SC, the breach occurred when Ng disposed 16.5 million Patimas shares that he owned between May to July 2012, while in possession of material non-public information. It said the information was in relation to audit queries and issues about suspicious transactions between Patimas and its top debtors.

“Insider trading continues to be a high priority for the SC. The judgment sends a strong and clear message to the public that insider trading where inside information is misused for personal gain will not be tolerated by the SC,” said the regulator.

This is the second successful claim by the SC against a former director of Patimas for insider trading following the civil claim against former deputy chairman Datuk Raymond Yap Wee Hin in April.

In that case, Yap was ordered to pay Rm3.28mil to the SC as well as a civil penalty of Rm1mil.