Fraud Lands Three Finance Professionals Jail Term and Ban
The Monetary Authority of Singapore has issued prohibition orders against three former employees of HSBC, UOB and NTUC Income for fraud and dishonesty.
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) on Wednesday slapped prohibition orders (POs) against two former bank employees and a former insurance agent for fraudulent and dishonest conduct. The three cases are not related, and the ban against the three individuals ranged between 10 and 20 years.
«MAS imposed POs of considerable duration against these individuals as they had abused their position of trust by engaging in criminal conduct at the expense of their customers. Their egregious misconduct caused considerable monetary losses to the victims,» Lee Boon Ngiap, MAS assistant managing director (capital markets) said in a press statement.
Lee added that the authorities would act firmly and decisively against financial services professionals who undermine consumers’ trust and that it would work to keep such unsuitable persons out of the industry.
Deception and Forgery
Emeline Tang Wei Leng, formerly a HSBC senior vice-president, was issued a 20-year ban for deceiving five individuals, including her own family member, into placing with her over S$5 million on the grounds of making fixed deposits into their HSBC accounts on their behalf. Later, she forged documents as proofs of these deposits.
Under the ban, she is prohibited from providing any capital markets and financial advisory services; and partaking in the management, directorship or being a substantial shareholder of any capital market and financial advisory services firm under the Securities and Futures Act (SFA) and Financial Advisers Act (FAA). In addition, she is sentenced to 10 years and 6 months imprisonment after being convicted of cheating and forgery offences under the Penal Code, and offences under the Corruption, Drug Trafficking and Other Serious Crimes (Confiscation of Benefits) Act.
Fictitious Financial Products
Former UOB personal banker Nguyen Duy Minh was banned for 12 years from providing financial advisory services, acting as a director or becoming a substantial shareholder of any financial advisory firm under the FAA.
He was involved in selling fictitious financial products to customers and forging documents to purchase financial products without their knowledge. Nguyen also misappropriated funds entrusted by a customer instead of depositing it into the account as instructed. His sentence is 3 years and 9 months’ imprisonment.
Misappropriating Insurance Premiums
Lastly, John Koh Zhan Loong, formerly a financial associate with NTUC Income, was banned for 10 years from providing financial advisory services, acting as a director or becoming a substantial shareholder of any financial advisory firm under the FAA. He is also prohibited from carrying business and partaking in the management of any insurance intermediary under the Insurance Act (IA).
He was sentenced to four years imprisonment in June 2018 for misappropriating insurance premiums amounting to around S$500,000 from 11 customers.
