A Malaysian property developer was charged with stock market manipulation today as part of a crackdown on suspicious trading that has damaged sentiment on the Malaysian bourse, officials said.

Chin Chan Leong, 52, pleaded not guilty to "creating the misleading appearance of active trading" and affecting the price of shares of the listed company Fountain View Development, the official Bernama news agency said.

The Securities Commission said in a statement that if convicted, Chin - the director of two Fountain View subsidiaries - faces a heavy fine and up to 10 years in jail on each of two counts against him.

Fountain View, a property development company and oil palm plantation owner, made a strong debut on the exchange at the end of 2003 and traded around RM5 for almost a year before plummeting in late April.

The decline saw its share price drop to 40 sen in just five days and wiped RM1.8 billion from its value in one of the most spectacular declines of any Malaysian listed company.

Heavy losses

Several banks, including foreign institutions, reportedly suffered heavy losses and the freefalling counter also created negative sentiment that saw wider sell-downs in the market.

The New Straits Times quoted dealers as saying that the stock had been artificially supported at the RM5 mark and that the price plunged when a broker terminated the credit lines.

In May, the Securities Commission said it had launched a probe into a spate of suspicious movements on the stock market. A concerned Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi earlier this month ordered it to speed up its investigation.

Chin was released on bail and his trial will be heard in January next year.