SINGAPORE, (Reuters) – Two people were convicted by Singapore’s highest court in relation to what the authorities call the biggest market manipulation case within the city-state. This was according to a statement jointly issued Thursday by Singapore Police and Monetary Authority of Singapore.

Singapore authorities investigated suspected trading irregularities in connection to a penny-stock crash that occurred late 2013, resulting in losses of around S$8billion ($5.78billion) for three companies.

According to the statement, Quah Su–Ling and Malaysian John Soh Chee Wen devised a complex scheme to artificially increase the shares of Blumont Group Ltd. (Blumont), Asiasons Capital Ltd. (Asiasons), and LionGold Corp Ltd. (LionGold).

It stated that the pair were guilty of more than 100 offences, which included market manipulation and cheating.

This scandal saw the stocks rise multiple times over the three months prior to their collapse, which weakened investor confidence. It also led to reforms in stock trading regulations within the city state.

The joint statement stated that Singapore authorities conducted raids at more than 50 locations. They interviewed more than 70 people and examined evidence including more than 2 million emails, 500k trade orders and thousands of financial statements.

Quah and Soh will both be sentenced later.

An attorney representing Soh didn’t immediately reply to our request for comment. According to media reports, Quah wasn’t represented at court.

($1 = 1.3852 Singapore dollars)