Sessions Court Judge Hasbullah Adam sentenced Cheah, 63, to one-day jail and a fine of RM1 million (in default 12 months imprisonment) after he pleaded guilty to one charge of insider trading under section 188(2)(a) of the CMSA. His admission to the other four charges were also taken into account for sentencing, through a plea bargain application under section 172C of the Criminal Procedure Code.

The Securities Commission Malaysia (SC) charged Cheah on 10 October 2019 for disposing 2,884,300 units of DISTECH shares between 1 March 2010 and 4 March 2010, via accounts belonging to his personal assistant’s husband, Chuah Ni. This occurred whilst Cheah was in possession of material price sensitive information which was not generally available, namely, the alleged mis-statement of DISTECH’s quarterly financial reports between third quarter of 2008 and fourth quarter of 2009, which would significantly impact DISTECH’s financial results.