The Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, announced civil penalty proceedings against 8 offenders for jointly creating price or trading volume in the warrants to purchase ordinary shares of Simat Technologies, or SIMAT-W3, and shares of Thai NDT, or TNDT. They were ordered to pay civil penalties totaling 39,340,932.73 baht, along with bans on trading securities and derivatives and bans on serving as directors or executives of securities-issuing companies or securities companies. The 8 offenders are Mr. Khajornkiat Ungaram, Miss Raphatporn Trongwongsa, Mr. Kraiwit Tangsanga, Miss Wariya Khemthongpradit, Mr. Thanapon Khemthongpradit, Mr. Sittapavee Chawarangkoon, Mr. Naruesorn Weerachatwattana, and Miss Kannika Jarupan, who are linked both financially and personally. The investigation found they jointly placed buy and sell orders in a manner that was coordinated and mutually supportive on a continuous basis, causing the price and trading volume of SIMAT-W3 and TNDT shares to rise abnormally beyond normal market conditions, across 4 incident periods between May and August 2021. The first and second periods involved manipulation of SIMAT-W3, while the third and fourth involved manipulation of TNDT shares. Among the 8 offenders, Miss Raphatporn must pay the highest amount at 14,243,708.18 baht, followed by Mr. Kraiwit at 10,276,246.47 baht, while the rest pay between 2.1 million and just over 4 million baht each. They were banned from trading securities or derivatives for 42 to 84 months and banned from serving as directors or executives for 84 to 168 months. The civil fines and compensation for benefits gained from the offenses are considered state revenue to be remitted to the Ministry of Finance.
Simat Technologies Public Company LimitedSEC fined 8 individuals for jointly manipulating SIMAT-W3 warrant prices and trading volume, a regulatory enforcement action tied to the company's warrants.
