SINGAPORE (Jan 27): The High Court has dismissed John Soh Chee Wen’s application for leave to return to Malaysia to see his ailing mother, after prosecutors said the probe into the October 2013 penny stock crash will be concluded soon.

Batu Pahat-born Soh, 56, is adviser to LionGold Corp’s chairman. He filed a criminal motion two weeks ago, seeking leave from Feb 6 to 23 to visit his 81-year-old mother and to attend his elder son’s wedding.

Soh’s passport has been impounded since early April 2014 and he has been assisting the Commercial Affairs Department (CAD) in its investigations.

His lawyer Tan Chee Meng told the court that Soh had cooperated with the CAD in the past 22 months, recording 800 pages of statements covering 2,000 questions.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Gordon Oh told Judge Chao Hick Tin that the investigation so far has found that Soh might be the “mastermind” of the steep climb in the share prices of Asiasons Capital (since renamed Attilan Group), Blumont Group and LionGold.

The three stocks collapsed in October 2013, wiping out some $8 billion in market value within a few days. The following year, the CAD began what it has called its biggest securities fraud investigation.

Oh said the investigation is now “nearing completion” and charges could be brought by the end of the year.

Oh told reporters that Soh cannot appeal the judge’s decision under the criminal motion he filed.  Soh said he is consulting his lawyers on other means to get his passport back.