news feature

Soh Chee Wen, John to his friends, looks like any other Malaysian businessman who has happily returned from a successful overseas trip when he arrived at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport from Jakarta on Tuesday morning.

His calm, collected demeanour betrays no hint that he has a dark cloud hanging over him — a court case pertaining to commercial crimes which could, if he is found guilty, see him poorer by not less than RM1 million and in jail for up to 10 years.

After being away for three years, he is back, rather inexplicably, to face two charges of defrauding a now defunct stockbroking firm of more than RM500 million in shares transacted between September 1997 and January 1998.

Since his return to the country, Soh, 42, has impressed upon the media that his famed skills with people have not diminished in the slightest.

This morning, he arrived at SJK(C) Sin Min in Puchong, Selangor, in a black S320 Mercedes Benz provided by one of his long-time supporters. The cause cél