Man who cheated bank has jail time reduced by half

dragg SG

SINGAPORE: A man who cheated OCBC bank by forging 176 invoices, which led to S$2.6 million being credited to his company’s account, had his prison sentence halved after a High Court judge allowed his appeal on Wednesday.

Tan Thiam Wee was the director of software company Idealsoft, which had a factoring agreement with OCBC. This meant that, if it had given a customer an invoice that had not been paid, the company could ask OCBC to advance 85 per cent of the value.

As his company was facing cash-flow problems in late 2007, Tan created false invoices and submitted them to OCBC to maintain the company’s working capital. He also created false invoices and purchase orders to support those documents.

Between September 2007 and October 2008, Tan forged 176 invoices, of which 160 were accepted, and S$2.6 million was credited to his company’s account.

The offences came to light when seven police reports were lodged against Idealsoft by its customers after they received letters of demand from OCBC for repayment.

Tan was sentenced to five years in jail by a district judge last December after pleading guilty to 12 charges of cheating. Another 164 charges were taken into consideration.

In appealing against the sentence, his lawyers, Senior Counsel Philip Jeyaretnam and Mr Derek Kang, argued that this was “not a conventional cheating case” and that the “underlying objective” was to ease Idealsoft’s cash flow difficulties.

Deputy Public Prosecutors David Chew and Serene Chew, however, pointed out that Tan “had the audacity” to include legal institutions such as the Singapore Academy of Law and the Law Society of Singapore in the fictitious invoices.

Justice Lee Seiu Kin said “the striking feature” in this case was Tan’s intention. “He had carried out the fraud in the hope that it would tide him over a tight cash flow situation. His motivation was to stave off what he thought was temporary insolvency so that his company could survive and his employees could remain in their jobs.”

While this did not relieve him of his culpability, Justice Lee said the situation was “vastly different” from one where the perpetrator commits an offence for direct financial gain or to repay gambling debts.

The bank’s loss totalled S$634,075 as some money was recovered from Tan’s customers and the company’s current account. Justice Lee allowed Tan’s appeal, which meant he would now be jailed for two and a half years. – TODAY

dragg SG

what about the guy who stole from the mosque?

^Acid^ aka s|aO^eH~ SG

I dun think that part was his motivation...

charlize SG

single_alone SG

$634,075 for 2.5 years jail

Very worth it

dragg SG

Police NSman’s jail term increased for stealing money
By Amanda Lee, TODAY | Posted: 13 July 2012 0619 hrs

SINGAPORE: A police national serviceman who misappropriated money entrusted to him faces more jail time after the Chief Justice allowed an appeal by the Public Prosecutor.

Amir Hamzah Mohammad, 24, who was serving his NS as a special constable attached to the Found and Unclaimed Property Office (FUPO), was jailed six weeks by a district court for criminal breach of trust as a public servant.

Chief Justice Chan Sek Keong increased the jail term to six months on Thursday, as he agreed with the prosecution that the sentence “was too lenient”.

Amir’s duties included driving the FUPO van to collect found property turned in at police divisions and to take them back to the unit.

At the time of the offence, FUPO had an existing backlog of property waiting to be registered and processed. Hence, supervisors stopped checking against the collection lists of items that drivers handed in from their collection rounds, according to court documents.

On Sept 21, 2010, Amir collected 32 polymer bags from Clementi Police Division Headquarters, including one which contained cash. When he returned to his base, he brought all the found property except one containing the cash, which he hid in the van. A few days later, he retrieved the bag from the van and misappropriated S$893.75.

He used part of the money to pay for his car insurance.

Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Leong Wing Tuck argued that Amir was able to commit the offence only because of the access given to him as a police officer.

While the public is entitled to expect law enforcement officers to carry out their duties “with integrity and honesty”, DPP Leong said “the zero-tolerance approach” to law enforcement officers committing offences while on duty must continue.

Allowing the appeal, CJ Chan agreed Amir “took advantage of the situation”. Despite Amir’s plea for leniency, he noted the accused had shown “no remorse”.

Amir was convicted after a trial which spanned 18 days. – TODAY

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$893 only but the prosecutor believes 6 weeks isnt enough and the chief justice increased it to 6 months!!!!

^Acid^ aka s|aO^eH~ SG

Police NSman’s jail term increased for stealing money
By Amanda Lee, TODAY | Posted: 13 July 2012 0619 hrs

SINGAPORE: A police national serviceman who misappropriated money entrusted to him faces more jail time after the Chief Justice allowed an appeal by the Public Prosecutor.

Chief Justice Chan Sek Keong increased the jail term to six months on Thursday, as he agreed with the prosecution that the sentence “was too lenient”.

Amir’s duties included driving the FUPO van to collect found property turned in at police divisions and to take them back to the unit.

He used part of the money to pay for his car insurance.

Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Leong Wing Tuck argued that Amir was able to commit the offence only because of the access given to him as a police officer.

Allowing the appeal, CJ Chan agreed Amir “took advantage of the situation”. Despite Amir’s plea for leniency, he noted the accused had shown “no remorse”.

Amir was convicted after a trial which spanned 18 days. – TODAY

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$893 only but the prosecutor believes 6 weeks isnt enough and the chief justice increased it to 6 months!!!!

6 months to me also like abit not enuff... He is a law enforcer in the first place...

Jimm1978 SG

wow $600 is really quite a lot