A former executive director of Kencana Petroleum Bhd has been charged in the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court with insider trading, while two others were accused of abetting him.

Yeow Kheng Chew, 64, a former business partner of Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s son Mokhzani, claimed trial to a charge of acquiring 1.159 million units of Kencana Petroleum shares through Paulene Chee Yuet Fang's central depository system account sometime on July 8, 2011.

It follows the proposed merger of Kencana and SapuraCrest Petroleum Berhad Group.

Chee, 56, and Tan Yee Chee, 46, are charged with abetting Yeow.

If convicted, the three of them stand to face a jail term of up to 10 years and fine not less than RM1 million.

Roz Mawar Rozain acted as the prosecutor for the Securities Commission.

Sessions judge Zulqarnain Hassan allowed the SC's application for a joint trial.

He also allowed bail of RM1 million for Yeow with two sureties, and RM800,000 each for Chee and Tan.

Zulqarnain set Aug 11 for case management to fix hearing dates.