Ex-director of jewellery company jailed 22 months for forgery and CBT of $130,000

Gou Linnan was a director of W&G Jewellery, which operates Chow Tai Fook Jewellery at Marina Bay Sands. PHOTO: ST FILE

SINGAPORE - A former director of a jewellery firm, who admitted to committing forgery and misappropriating $130,000, was jailed for 22 months on Friday (April 22).

A court heard that in July 2011, Chinese national Gou Linnan, 36, was a director of W&G Jewellery, which operates Chow Tai Fook Jewellery at Marina Bay Sands.

Gou was one of the two authorised signatories of W&G Jewellery's United Overseas Bank cheque account. The firm allowed cheque withdrawals with just one of the authorised signatures.

Between July 14 and 18, 2011, she issued and encashed two cash cheques, amounting to $130,000, from the firm's bank account.

She wrote on the cheque book summary page that the two cheques were payments to Chow Tai Fook Jewellery, a Hongkong based jewellery supplier of W & G. But she had spent the money on gambling.

She also forged an application form for a telegraphic transfer of $100,000 from her bank account to Chow Tai Fook Jewellery on July 14, 2011.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Hon Yi said Gou signed the document in the name of an employee of UOB to deceive W&G Jewellery into believing that $100,000 was paid to Chow Tai Fook Jewellery.

Chow Tai Fook Jewellery later confirmed that it did not receive the payments of $100,000 and $30,000 from W&G Jewellery.

She has made partial restitution of RMB500,000 (about $94,800) to Mr Wang Kaizhong, a director of W&G Jewellery.

Gou's lawyer Josephus Tan said his client had been in a seven-year relationship with Mr Wang and went through four abortions. When the relationship went downhill, she gambled. She had hoped to win, and return the money .

Mr Tan added that Gou had returned to China but came back as she wanted to meet her prospective parents-in-law. She married her Singaporean husband in 2014 and wants to start a family, he told the court.

District Judge May Mesenas, who took a second forgery charge involving $30,000 into consideration, backdated Gou's sentence to Nov 12 last year. Gou could have been jailed for life or up to 20 years and fined for criminal breach of trust. The maximum penalty for forgery is 10 years' jail and a fine.

elena@sph.com.sg

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