The Sessions Court today sentenced Thai to five years’ jail and a RM5 million fine, the Securities Commission said in a statement.

The court also sentenced Tiong to five years’ jail and a RM10 million fine.

Thai, 57, who was the former managing director of APL Industries Bhd (APLI), was convicted of communicating non-public information between Oct 26, 2007 and Oct 29, 2007 to Tiong.

Thai paid the fine. He appealed against the conviction and hence the jail term has been suspended, The Star Online reported.

Tiong was found guilty of two counts of disposing of a total of 6,208,500 APLI shares while in possession of the information, using accounts belonging to his mother-in-law and his mother.

At the time of the commission of the offence, Tiong was also a licensed intra-day trader with a stock broking company.

Insider trading offences, under section 188 of the Capital Markets and Services Act 2007 (CMSA), is punishable by a maximum of 10 years’ imprisonment and a fine of not less than RM1 million.

Sessions Court judge Tuan Zulqarnain Hassan said a deterrent sentence was warranted as insider trading offences were deemed more serious than conventional crimes as it had a far-reaching impact on investors’ confidence and the public as a whole.

“Insider trading is a modern white-collar economic crime. It is serious and is in a category or class of its own,” The Star Online quoted the judge as saying.

http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2014/12/15/supermax-ceo-hauled-to-court/