Securities Commission Malaysia (SC) today charged Dato’ Vincent Leong Jee Wai for insider trading of shares of Maxbiz Corporation Berhad (Maxbiz).
Dato’ Vincent Leong, 58, was charged at the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court this morning with two counts of communicating material non-public information between November 2010 and January 2011 to one Leong Wye Keong when he should have known that Leong Wye Keong would tend to dispose shares of Maxbiz Corporation Berhad (Maxbiz). Dato’ Vincent Leong was at the material time the Managing Director of Maxbiz.
The material non-public information for the first charge relates to the decrease in Maxbiz’s shareholders’ equity which was close to Maxbiz being classified as financially distressed. The second charge concerns the classification of Maxbiz as a Practice Note 17 (PN17) company.
Dato’ Vincent Leong claimed trial to both charges. Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court Judge, Puan Azian binti Othman fixed bail at RM250,000 with one surety. Dato’ Vincent Leong was also ordered to surrender his passport to the court.
Insider trading is punishable under section 188(4) of the CMSA, with an imprisonment term not exceeding 10 years and a fine of not less than RM1 million.