Goh Jin Hian testifies in false trading trial, says he believed market-making services 'completely legal'

"I was very sensitive to anything wrong being done because of the reputation of the individuals in the board and even to my own reputation," Dr Goh Jin Hian said as he took the stand.

Goh Jin Hian arrives at the State Courts on Sep 29, 2026. (Photo: CNA/Syamil Sapari)

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SINGAPORE: Former chief executive officer of investment holding company New Silkroutes Group (NSG) Dr Goh Jin Hian told the court on Tuesday (Sep 29) that he was unfamiliar with the market-making industry when the company engaged designated market maker GTC Group in 2018, but believed its services were "completely legal".

The 57-year-old son of former prime minister Goh Chok Tong also described how he was very sensitive to any wrong being done because of the reputations at stake, including his own.

Dr Goh took the stand in his false trading trial for the second day on Tuesday. He is accused of conspiring with other executives from NSG, a publicly traded company, to push up the share price as the company's business strategy was premised on a high share price.

He is contesting charges of conspiring to create a misleading appearance of NSG's share price, and of "doing things with the purpose of creating a misleading appearance of NSG's share price".

Dr Goh is on trial alongside NSG's former chief corporate officer, 55-year-old Kelvyn Oo Cheong Kwan. They are accused of engaging in the conspiracy, along with market maker Huang Yiwen and former NSG finance director William Teo Thiam Chuan, both of whom have been convicted and sentenced.

Dr Goh told the court that NSG was under "some pressure" to lift a months-long suspension on trading in its shares, which he believed were already thinly traded. Thinly traded securities are financial assets that are difficult to buy or sell without affecting their market price.

When he and NSG met Huang, the sole shareholder and director of GTC Group in February 2018, there was little time to engage a market maker before lifting the trading suspension. Market makers refer to financial firms or individuals who keep markets liquid by offering prices at which they will buy and sell an asset.

He also addressed the S$60,000 (US$ 46,900) monthly fee GTC charged, which he considered high but agreed to after consulting his team.

"I didn't know the market rate, I didn't know the industry at all," he said.

WHY NSG ENGAGED A MARKET MAKER

Dr Goh said he first met Huang in February 2018, in what was their only meeting.

Huang had been introduced to NSG through Teo, after Dr Goh asked the latter if he knew any market makers who could "support shares and prevent Shen killing the price" when the company's trading suspension was lifted.

This referred to NSG's former director and substantial shareholder Lee Soek Shen, whom Dr Goh believed was selling large volumes of his shares, exerting downward pressure on NSG's share price.

Dr Goh testified that he had learnt it was possible to engage a market maker to provide liquidity for NSG's shares and believed it to be "completely legal" to do so.

During their meeting, Huang explained market making to Dr Goh and described GTC Group as a designated market maker on SGX.

According to Dr Goh, Huang said his services could mitigate short-term volatility caused by Mr Lee's selling and, over time, allow NSG's shares to trade towards what Dr Goh considered their fair value.

NSG had requested a trading halt in November 2017, followed by a voluntary suspension of its shares in December while it negotiated acquisitions.

After nearly three months of suspension and just days after announcing three major deals, the company said in February 2018 that its shares would resume trading the following day.

Asked whether he or NSG had tried to meet with other market makers, Dr Goh said he did not know where to find them.

There was also "some pressure" to lift the suspension, as they had completed some deals and had "very little time" to engage a market maker beforehand.

NSG eventually engaged GTC, which charged S$60,000 a month.

Dr Goh said his first reaction upon seeing that amount listed in the terms of agreement between the two was that it was three times his salary.

"I thought it was high in (that) regard. I didn't know the market rate, I didn't know the industry at all," he said.

He consulted his team, including Teo, on whether NSG could afford the fee and was assured that it could.

The term "whiter than white" was brought up again in the trial, this time with the defence asking Dr Goh if he recalled the use of this phrase during the February 2018 meeting.

Dr Goh said he remembered the phrase being uttered by Oo to inform Huang that his conduct in providing market-making activities for NSG had to be completely legal and comply with rules by the Monetary Authority of Singapore and SGX.

Dr Goh said he agreed with the sentiment, saying: "I was very sensitive to anything wrong being done because of the reputation of the individuals on the board and even to my own reputation."

Without divulging his own background and corporate experience, he testified that most, if not all, the individuals on the board were people of good repute. Oo was a lawyer by training and was "not going to do anything illegal", Dr Goh said.

He told the court that the board members and he were mindful of their status and responsibilities to the company.

The defence delivered its opening statement on Monday, arguing that Dr Goh did not know many key details of what Teo arranged or agreed with Huang.

Even Teo appeared not to know what Huang and GTC Group were doing, said his lawyers - Senior Counsel Tan Chee Meng, Mr Paul Loy, Mr Samuel Navindran and Ms Lee Jiayi from WongPartnership - in the statement.

They also sought to put several WhatsApp messages Dr Goh had sent to his management team in context, describing some of the exchanges as casual conversation "akin to banter".

In one, Dr Goh wrote: "looks like we can decide how much to price our shares today" and "maybe open at S$0.30?", accompanied by a smiling face with sunglasses emoji.

The defence said he was being "somewhat facetious", arguing that SGX rules would have made it impossible to move the share price in the manner suggested.

They noted that the seemingly questionable messages amounted to "loose and casual language", rather than reflective of any improper intent to manipulate the market, and that there was never any conspiracy between Dr Goh and Huang.

"For the sake of argument, even taking the worst possible interpretation of Dr Goh's conduct, he would at the most have been reckless as to whether what he was doing might result in a false appearance being created,” said the lawyers.

"It was never his intention, nor his purpose, to do so."

The trial continues.

Teo was given 12 weeks' jail in September 2024 , while Huang, who was involved in conspiracies to rig the market or price for share or unit counters, was sentenced to jail for over two years in August last year .

If convicted, Dr Goh and Oo face a jail term of up to seven years, a fine of up to S$250,000, or both for each charge.

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“由于董事会成员的声誉，甚至由于我自己的声誉，我对任何不当行为都非常敏感，”吴锦贤医生在证人席上说道。

吴锦贤于2026年9月29日抵达国家法院。（图片：CNA/Syamil Sapari）

这段音频是由人工智能工具生成的。

新加坡：投资控股公司新丝路集团（NSG）前首席执行官吴锦贤博士周二（9月29日）向法庭表示，该公司在2018年聘用指定做市商GTC集团时，他对做市行业并不熟悉，但他认为GTC集团的服务“完全合法”。

前总理吴作栋57岁的儿子也表示，他对任何错误行为都非常敏感，因为这关系到包括他自己在内的所有人的声誉。

周二，吴医生连续第二天出庭作证，接受虚假交易案的审判。他被控与上市公司NSG的其他高管合谋推高股价，因为该公司的商业战略正是建立在高股价之上的。

他否认了串谋制造 NSG 股价误导性表象以及“以制造 NSG 股价误导性表象为目的而采取行动”的指控。

吴医生与NSG前首席企业官、55岁的吴昌宽一同受审。他们被控与做市商黄义文和NSG前财务总监张添泉共同参与阴谋，黄义文和张添泉均已被定罪判刑。

吴医生告诉法庭，NSG面临着“一些压力”，需要解除对其股票长达数月的交易暂停，他认为这些股票的交易量本来就很低。交易量低的证券是指那些难以买卖而不影响其市场价格的金融资产。

2018年2月，当他和NSG与GTC集团唯一股东兼董事黄先生会面时，距离解除交易暂停仅剩很短的时间，他们几乎没有时间聘请做市商。做市商指的是通过提供买卖资产的价格来维持市场流动性的金融公司或个人。

他还谈到了 GTC 每月收取 60,000 新元（46,900 美元）的费用，他认为这个费用很高，但在咨询了他的团队后还是同意了。

“我不知道市场价格，我对这个行业也一窍不通，”他说。

为什么NSG聘请了做市商？

吴医生说，他第一次见到黄是在 2018 年 2 月，这也是他们唯一一次见面。

黄是通过张先生认识 NSG 的，此前吴医生问张先生是否认识任何做市商，可以在公司交易暂停解除后“支撑股价，防止沈先生压垮股价”。

这指的是 NSG 的前董事兼大股东李锡申，吴博士认为他正在大量抛售股票，对 NSG 的股价施加下行压力。

吴博士作证说，他了解到可以聘请做市商为 NSG 的股票提供流动性，并且认为这样做是“完全合法的”。

在会面期间，黄向吴博士解释了做市，并介绍了 GTC 集团作为新加坡交易所指定做市商的情况。

据吴博士称，黄表示他的服务可以减轻李先生抛售股票造成的短期波动，并且随着时间的推移，可以让NSG的股票交易价格向吴博士认为的公允价值靠拢。

NSG 于 2017 年 11 月申请暂停交易，随后于 12 月自愿暂停股票交易，以便进行收购谈判。

在停牌近三个月后，就在宣布三项重大交易几天后，该公司于 2018 年 2 月表示，其股票将于第二天恢复交易。

当被问及他本人或NSG是否曾尝试与其他做市商会面时，吴博士表示他不知道在哪里可以找到他们。

此外，由于他们已经完成了一些交易，并且事先“几乎没有时间”与做市商接洽，因此也存在“一些压力”要求解除暂停交易。

NSG 最终聘请了 GTC，GTC 每月收费 6 万新元。

吴医生表示，当他看到双方协议条款中列出的金额时，他的第一反应是这相当于他工资的三倍。

“我觉得那方面价格偏高。我对市场行情一无所知，对这个行业也完全不了解，”他说。

他咨询了包括 Teo 在内的团队成员，询问 NSG 是否能够支付这笔费用，并得到了 NSG 能够支付的保证。

审判中再次提到了“比白还白”这个说法，这次辩方询问吴医生是否记得在 2018 年 2 月的会议上使用过这个短语。

吴博士说，他记得吴先生曾说过这句话，目的是告知黄先生，他为NSG提供做市活动的行为必须完全合法，并遵守新加坡金融管理局和新加坡交易所的规定。

吴医生表示他同意这种看法，并说道：“我非常在意任何不当行为，因为这关系到董事会成员的声誉，甚至关系到我自己的声誉。”

他没有透露自己的背景和企业经验，但作证说，董事会成员绝大多数（如果不是全部）都是信誉良好的人。吴医生说，吴先生是受过专业训练的律师，“不会做任何违法的事情”。

他告诉法庭，董事会成员和他本人都清楚自己对公司的地位和责任。

辩方于周一发表了开庭陈述，辩称吴医生并不了解张与黄达成的协议的许多关键细节。

就连张先生本人似乎也不知道黄先生和GTC集团在做什么，他的律师——来自WongPartnership律师事务所的高级律师陈志明、保罗·罗伊先生、塞缪尔·纳文德兰先生和李嘉怡女士——在声明中表示。

他们还试图将吴医生发给管理团队的几条 WhatsApp 信息放在上下文中解读，将其中一些交流描述为“类似于玩笑”的随意对话。

其中一则消息中，吴博士写道：“看来我们今天可以决定股票定价了”，“也许可以以 0.30 新元开盘？”，并附上了一个戴着墨镜的笑脸表情符号。

辩方称他是在“开玩笑”，并辩称新加坡交易所的规则使得以建议的方式操纵股价成为不可能。

他们指出，这些看似可疑的信息实际上只是“随意随意的语言”，并不反映出任何操纵市场的不正当意图，而且吴博士和黄先生之间从来没有任何阴谋。

律师们表示：“即使以对吴医生行为的最坏解释来论证，他至多也只是鲁莽行事，没有考虑到自己的行为可能会造成虚假的假象。”

“他从来没有想过，也没有打算这样做。”

审判仍在继续。

Teo于2024年9月被判处12周监禁，而黄某因参与操纵股票或单位交易的市场或价格的阴谋，于去年8月被判处两年多监禁。

如果罪名成立，吴医生和吴先生每项指控将面临最高七年监禁、最高25万新元罚款，或两者并罚。

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