Police confirmed yesterday a number of reports had been filed over the matter.

Funds of 2,000 clients of the financial advisory arm of Acclaim Insurance Brokers were shifted to Leadenhall Insurance Brokers in July. Brokers are middlemen between clients and insurance firms.

The shift came after 26 financial advisory representatives left Acclaim to work at Leadenhall when it set up its financial advisory arm.

Acclaim chief executive Anthony Lim said the total sum invested by the 2,000 clients was about $57 million - about 20 per cent of its total $300 million invested funds.

The clients had invested their Central Provident Fund (CPF) cash in unit trusts.

To make matters worse, some clients say they have been hit with charges based on transactions they never authorised. This was stated in one of three police reports The Straits Times obtained.

They claimed that a 3 per cent sales fee for transactions had been deducted from their CPF accounts.

Industry insiders say it is quite common for clients to follow advisers when they shift firms - but that the client's consent is required.

One client who made a police report, Mr Peter Goh, claimed however that he did not sign any document which authorised a transfer.

He was dismayed to find that $38,000 from his CPF Ordinary Account and $9,000 from his Special Account had been moved from Acclaim to Leadenhall.

Mr Goh said he was told of the transfer in mid-July by a unit trust administration platform - an agency that tracks these types of investments.

It is not clear how many clients allege they did not give prior consent to this shift.

When contacted, Leadenhall chief executive Ling Herng Wee said: 'To my best knowledge, all Acclaim clients have signed the required authorisation forms for the transfer to my firm. This is a serious matter. We would not allow forged documents to be submitted.' He said nearly 2,000 clients have moved from Acclaim since July.

Acclaim's Mr Lim is also alleging that several of the representatives who resigned from its financial advisory arm may be in breach of contract and fiduciary duties.

He blamed the exodus on former Acclaim financial advisory manager, Mr Edward Wong, who was hired to start its financial advisory arm on Aug 1 last year. It was he who recruited the 26 staff members for Acclaim.

The complication: Both Mr Wong and his father, Mr Alan Wong, worked in Acclaim. The elder Mr Wong quit early this year to set up Leadenhall's financial advisory arm. When it was started in July, the 26 staffers jumped ship and joined him.

As for the younger Mr Wong, he told The Straits Times that his services were terminated the next month for alleged misconduct over offering cash rebates to clients.

Acclaim reported the matter to the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), the Commercial Affairs Department and the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau.

An MAS spokesman said: 'MAS does not comment on our dealings with individual financial institutions. Where there are breaches of the laws administered by MAS, we will conduct the necessary reviews and take appropriate action.'

When contacted, Mr Edward Wong said: 'The clients' claims are unfounded. Let the police do the investigation.'

lorna@sph.com.sg