A man who gambled away the bulk of the $2.3 million he obtained by forging cheques from his company was jailed for seven years on Friday.

Hon Po Wah, 52, admitted forging the signature of his boss while working as an assistant accounts manager for Speedmark Air Transportation.

A district court was told that the long-time employee had issued the forged cheques to either himself, his wife or her close friend to whom he owed money.

For cheques issued to his wife, he deposited them into their POSB joint account without her knowledge and withdrew money - also without her knowledge.

He spent all the money he had cheated on gambling in local and overseas casinos, online casinos, online soccer betting, holidays and personal expenses.

The offences were discovered by Speedmark's external auditors and its senior management was informed. The company terminated his services in May last year.

ELENA CHONG