By Khushwant Singh
A FORMER customer service manager at United Overseas Bank (UOB)
was jailed 4 1/2 months on Wednesdayfor selling the names and
contact details of the bank's high-net-worth clients to businesses
like spa chains and insurance firms.
But Mahesalingam Kanasalingam, 30, and his accomplice Lucas Lin
Han Tian, 29, made the mistake of using UOB's postage pre-paid
envelopes to save on mailing costs. A recipient grew suspicious
upon noticing that the envelope which came with the duo's flyer
featured UOB's return address, which had been blacked out with a
marker pen.
The bank was informed. Arrangements were then made for the
recipient, who knew a vice-president at UOB, to buy a list of 250
names for $500 in November 2008. The names were found to be an
exact match to UOB's customer database. Mahesalingam was also fined
$1,000 for stealing 2,070 envelopes from UOB which were found in
Lin's flat in a police raid in August 2008.
Lin, a former personal financial consultant with Standard
Chartered Bank was jailed for a month last June for violating
similar bank secrecy laws. He was also fined $10,000 for selling
the particulars of UOB clients, which he had obtained from
Mahesalingam.
The two Singaporeans had set up Dynamic Events in August 2008,
purportedly to organise events. Instead, they wrote to spas, beauty
salons and insurance firms, using Dynamic Events' letterhead,
offering to sell them mailing lists of affluent individuals at $3
per head.
When investigators closed in, Mahesalingam threw the hard disk
drive he had been using. He claimed trial to the charge of
destroying evidence but was found guilty and convicted on Feb 14.
He then pleaded guilty on March 8 to 10 charges of disclosing
confidential customer information to Lin and to two charges of
accessing the data without authority. He was also fined $1,000 for
theft of the pre-paid envelopes.
