The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has banned three insurance agents and a bank employee for fraudulent and dishonest conduct.
According to a news release by the MAS, Edwin Teh Chin Hong, former representative of Great Eastern, Aloysius Zephaniah Lim Bing Hong, former representative of Prudential Assurance, Joseph Michael, former representative of Great Eastern, and Ng Wei Ling, former representative of United Overseas Bank, were issued prohibition orders after being convicted by Singaporean courts for offences involving fraud and dishonesty.
Among the four, Teh received the longest ban from the financial services industry at nine years. According to the MAS, he misappropriated around SG$350,000 from seven clients over a period of three years. He was convicted in March 2018, and was sentenced to 34 months’ imprisonment.
Ng received an eight-year ban after being convicted in April of cheating and forgery and sentenced to 20 months in jail. The court found her guilty of cheating seven clients of SG$215,000, pretending to help them invest in a fixed deposit promotion that UOB was offering.
Lim was banned for five years after cheating a client of around SG$10,000 by making them transfer money to his account, saying it would be used to pay for insurance policies, when, in fact, the policies had already lapsed. He was sentenced to 14 weeks in jail.
Michael also received a five-year ban after being convicted of criminal breach of trust and sentenced to 10 weeks’ imprisonment. He had misappropriated approximately SG$15,000 from a client under the pretext that the money would be used to pay for insurance premiums.
“Those who provide financial services to the public must be trustworthy,” said Loo Siew Yee, MAS’s assistant managing director for policy, payments & financial crime. “The four individuals convicted abused the trust that their customers placed in them, and enriched themselves at their customers’ expense. MAS will not tolerate such behaviour and will take decisive action to keep such individuals out of the industry.”
