PUBLISHED ONDecember 17, 2025 9:58 AMBYSean LerThe police have, on Wednesday (Dec 17), charged three key executives of online trading platform Samtrade FX for allegedly engaging in fraudulent practices and money laundering.
In a news release on Dec 17, the police said that the three men — Goh Nai De, Goh Li Xiang and Yue Jingyuan Alfred — conspired to make 11 "Ultimate Trader" accounts appear profitable — by fraudulently tilting the trades in these accounts.
These accounts were then offered in Samtrade FX's "copy trading" product where clients could choose to "copy" the trades executed in the said accounts.
This led to the vast majority of Samtrade FX's clients copying the allegedly rigged "Ultimate Trading" accounts, which the police said were under Yue's control.
Between a nearly 12-month period — from Jan 1, 2021, to Dec 27, 2021 — Yue allegedly adjusted the bid-ask spreads of trades in these accounts so that copied trades appeared profitable to Samtrade FX's clients, without them knowing that the trades were fraudulently tilted, the police added.
During the same period, Goh Nai De, Goh Li Xiang and Yue received funds totalling about S$8.7 million, S$4.8 million and S$650,000 respectively from these alleged fraudulent practices.
The funds were derived from monies deposited by Samtrade FX's clients who had copied Yue's fraudulently tilted trades.
Goh Nai De, who held the position of Chief Executive Officer, faces 11 counts of engaging in fraudulent practices and 11 counts of money laundering offences.
Goh Li Xing, who held the position of Chief Technology Officer, faces 11 counts of engaging in fraudulent practices and 7 counts of money laundering offences.
Yue, who is suspected to have tilted the trades, was Samtrade FX's Head of Dealing and Strategy. He faces 11 counts of engaging in fraudulent practices and eight counts of money laundering offences.
The offence of engaging in fraudulent practices carries a jail term of up to seven years, a fine of up to $250,000, or both, per charge.
For money laundering, a person found guilty may be jailed for up to 10 years, fined up to $500,000, or both, for each charge.
Investigations into Samtrade FX's alleged fraudulent practices were announced on Jan 3, 2022.
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) said in its statement then: "There is reason to suspect that irregular trading activities have been carried out on the platform and investigations are being carried out on these activities."
Samtrade FX and its related entities had their licences revoked by MAS and were placed on the MAS' Investors Alert List in July 2021.
The Investor Alert List provides a list of unregulated persons who may have been wrongly perceived as being licensed or regulated by MAS.
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