Chen added that he accepted the arrangement despite Soh being bankrupt. He did so because he was keen to tap into Soh’s political and business influence in Malaysia at the time. “I had hoped that doing him this favour would lead to Soh providing me opportunities to elevate my standing in the corporate world and to engage me for legal work subsequently,” Chen said.
Peter Chen was once described by the John Soh Chee Wen, the alleged mastermind behind the manipulation of three penny stocks in 2013, as his “key wingman”. Not only did Chen provide legal services, but he also helped run business development at LionGold Corp, one of the companies believed to be controlled by accused Soh.
The latest prosecution witness to take the stand, Chen, in his conditioned statement, spoke of how he was told to open bank and trading accounts with various brokerages under his own name. This was done with the understanding that the accounts would be used by Soh to trade shares.
