Bangkok, 16 March 2020 – SEC has imposed civil sanction on three offenders, namely (1) Mr. Woraphant Chontong, for using inside information to sell shares of Sino-Thai Engineering and Construction PCL (STEC) and disclosing the inside information to other persons, (2) Miss Preeya Wongsongja, for assisting Woraphant in selling STEC shares based on the inside information, and (3) Miss Sasipas Chontong, for selling STEC shares while knowing or possessing the inside information. The three offenders are subject to the total fine of 12,775,120 baht and are prohibited from holding the positions of company director and executive.
According
to a referral from the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) and SEC’s further
investigation, it was found that during the months of January - February 2018
Woraphant, by virtue of his position as executive in charge of finance and
management of STEC, knew or possessed the company’s inside information related
to the provision for loss of construction projects, which could lead to
assessment or prediction of loss at a significant amount in the operating results
for the year 2017. Based on the inside information, Woraphant sold 1,121,000 of
his STEC shares in the securities trading account of Preeya, his subordinate at
the company, on 16 January 2018 and gained benefits from
the sale before the net loss value of 610.83 million baht from the 2017
operating results was disclosed to the public on 15 February 2018.
In addition, Woraphant disclosed the
inside information to Sasipas, his daughter, when he knew or should have known
that she might exploit the information for selling STEC shares for her own
benefit. She did sell 91,900 STEC shares on 19 January 2018 and benefited from
the sale as well.
Woraphant’s
acts were deemed securities trading while knowing or possessing and disclosing inside
information under Section 242(1)(2) in conjunction with Section 243(1), and subject to the penalties under
Section 96 and Section 296/2 of the Securities and Exchange Act (No. 5) B.E. 2559 (2016). In the case of Preeya, she assisted or
facilitated Woraphant in his wrongdoing under Section 242(1), which was in violation of Section 315, in conjunction with
Section 242(1) and subject to the
penalties under Section 296 of the said Act.
In the
case of Sasipas, she sold STEC shares while knowing or possessing the inside
information given by Woraphant, which was an offense under Section 242(1) in conjunction with Section 244(3) and
subject to the penalties under Section 296 and Section 296/2 of the said Act.
The Civil Sanction Committee has resolved
to instruct SEC to impose civil sanction on Woraphant, Preeya and Sasipas
whereby the three offenders must pay a separate civil penalty, compensate for
the benefits received from committing the offenses and reimburse for the
investigative expenses to SEC, at the amounts of 11,394,400
baht, 548,725 baht and 831,995 baht, respectively. In addition, Woraphant, Preeya and Sasipas
are prohibited from holding the positions of director and executive of any securities
issuing company or securities company for 26 months, 9 months and 12 months, respectively. The
banning period shall begin from the date when the offenders sign the letter of
consent to comply with the civil sanction.
In case any of the offenders refuses to
comply with the civil sanction imposed by the Civil Sanction Committee, SEC
will submit the case for the public attorney to file a lawsuit with the Civil
Court. The objectives of the lawsuit are to (1) impose the highest civil
penalty as allowed by law, (2) impose a compensation for the benefits received
from the relevant offense, (3) impose a reimbursement of the investigative
expenses, (4) ban the holding of director or executive position at any issuing
company or securities company for twice the duration specified by the Civil
Sanction Committee, and (5) prohibit the offender from trading securities on
SET or securities trading center or entering into derivatives contracts on the
Derivatives Exchange for the maximum duration as allowed by law.
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