Businesspeople and Influencers Caught Manipulating Share Prices
Jakarta — Indonesia’s Financial Services Authority (OJK) has uncovered additional share price manipulation schemes involving various parties ranging from social media activists to company executives. Billions of rupiah in fines have been imposed, whilst several suspects have been formally referred to the Office of the Attorney General.
In an official statement, the OJK imposed administrative sanctions against a social media activist in capital markets identified as BVN. He was fined Rp5.35 billion after being found to have manipulated share prices between 2021 and 2022.
The case covers trading in shares of PT Agro Yasa Lestari Tbk (AYLS) in September and November-December 2021, PT MD Pictures Tbk (FILM) throughout 2021, and PT Bintang Samudera Mandiri Lines Tbk (BSML) in March-June 2022.
“The OJK’s examination involved in-depth analysis of share transaction facts, tracing of social media activity by the individual concerned, identification of the share transaction patterns of the individual concerned, and other examination facts,” the OJK stated on its official website.
From the examination results, BVN conducted purchases and sales of shares using several securities accounts to create prices that did not reflect genuine supply and demand forces.
He was also active in disseminating information on social media, including plans to purchase or projections of price movements for certain shares. However, at the same time, he conducted contrary transactions and exploited the reactions of his followers.
The OJK concluded that such conduct created a false impression in the market and had the potential to influence the decisions of retail investors.
Beyond the influencer case, the OJK also imposed sanctions on three parties related to share trading manipulation of PT Impack Pratama Industri Tbk (IMPC) during January-April 2016. The parties sanctioned included:
— PT Dana Mitra Kencana, fined Rp2.1 billion
— UPT, fined Rp1.8 billion
— MLN, fined Rp1.8 billion
The method involved sending and receiving funds for share transactions through multiple clients, thereby creating trading activity that appeared active and influenced market perception. The total value of transactions identified reached tens of billions of rupiah.
Additionally, the OJK has continued criminal proceedings related to share manipulation of PT Sriwahana Adityakarta Tbk (SWAT). Four individuals have been designated as suspects, including SAS, who served as Chief Executive Director of SWAT.
He, together with three other suspects, is suspected of engineering share transactions during June-July 2018 in the Regular Market of the Indonesia Stock Exchange. According to the OJK, the suspects used nominee securities accounts through nine securities firms to create artificial prices.
The transactions involved more than 60,000 transaction meetings with a value reaching approximately Rp230.8 billion. The methods included transaction dominance, buyer initiation to push prices upward, and buying market impact patterns.
“The imposition of administrative sanctions and criminal proceedings form part of efforts to maintain the integrity of Indonesia’s capital market. The OJK will continue to strengthen supervision and cooperate with law enforcement authorities to ensure the process remains transparent and accountable,” the OJK stated.