Lim Yong Sim, the chief executive officer of No Signboard Holdings, was charged on July 27 with three counts of false trading and market rigging.

Lim, 46, who is also the executive chairman of the restaurant operator, is accused of placing orders for No Signboard Holdings shares to push up or support the prices.

No Signboard runs three restaurants in Singapore: No Signboard Seafood in Geylang, Little Sheep Hot Pot in Orchard, and nosignboard Sheng Jian in Yishun.

The Commercial Affairs Department and the Monetary Authority of Singapore launched a joint investigation and charges were then filed against Lim.

He is accused of placing orders for the company's shares on Jan. 31, 2019, the police said.

Trades in the company’s corporate trading account were executed to push up or support the price of its shares, the police said.

Before this, trades in the shares were also executed through the account of Gugong, which is the majority shareholder of No Signboard Holdings, the police said.

Lim was the director and majority shareholder of Gugong when these trades were done between June 19 and 29, 2018, as well as between Nov. 30, 2018 and Jan. 11, 2019.

Lim was arrested on April 30, 2019.

The company said in a filing to the Singapore Exchange (SGX) then that Lim's arrest occurred after the section of the Securities and Futures Act on insider trading may have been breached, among other sections.

Trading of the company's shares have been suspended since Jan. 24, 2022.

If convicted, he may be jailed for up to seven years, fined up to S$250,000 or both.

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