2 S'poreans on trial over bid to withdraw $157b
Sun, Nov 18, 2007
The Straits Times
HONG KONG - TWO Singaporeans are on trial in Hong Kong for using
fake cheques and certificates of deposit to try to withdraw more
than US$108 billion (S$157 billion) from a DBS branch in the
territory.
Also in the dock with Eddie Woon Kwok Jin, 53, and Lim Ban Hoong,
62, on the opening day of the trial on Friday was 32-year-old Ma
Ping, a mainland Chinese woman, the Hong Kong media reported
yesterday.
The Singaporeans had approached the bank in Hong Kong's Wanchai
district in April and presented photocopies of certificates of
deposit and cheques allegedly issued by Overseas Trust Bank (OTB)
in 1948.
The bank originally belonged to OTB but was acquired by DBS in
2003.
Staff of the bank alerted the police after finding that OTB had not
been established yet in 1948. The bank lost no money in the
incident, reported the South China Morning Post.
The three pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Woon and Lim claimed that they were entrusted by Ma to withdraw the
money from the account of one Sa Haiian, who was said to be Ma's
aunt.
The prosecution said the false papers predated the opening of OTB
in 1955, and the bank had no record of such a customer.
Also, contrary to banking practice, the cheques were found to bear
two branch names - Wanchai and Shanghai - and the authorising
signatures were not in the proper spot, reported the Ming Pao Daily
News.
Mr Wong Yiu Chung, a DBS branch manager who spoke with Woon and Lim
during their first meeting, testified that the two claimed to have
30 cheques issued in 1948, each with a face value of US$3.6
billion.
But they refused to produce the original, saying that they would do
so only when they met the bank's senior management.
Mr Wong then requested that Ma appear personally at the next
appointment.
The three were arrested by the police when they turned up at the
bank in June.
The trial continues tomorrow.
Imagine if the bank issued them that sum of
money
