All remaining charges withdrawn for second man linked to scam in which bank lost over $1.79m
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Kok Chiew Leong was granted a discharge amounting to an acquittal over his seven remaining charges on Dec 16.
PHOTO: ST FILE
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SINGAPORE – A second man linked to a housing loan scam
This means Kok Chiew Leong, 52, cannot be charged again with the same offences.
Another man, identified as Bijabahadur Rai Shree Kantrai, 55, who was involved in the same ruse, was granted a similar discharge
The pair, who were earlier handed jail sentences over separate cheating charges, were part of a group of five people who worked together on a ruse that led to a bank being duped into disbursing mortgage loans totalling more than $5.1 million.
In an earlier statement, the police said that between 2014 and 2015, Rai devised a scheme to perpetrate mortgage loan frauds involving two properties.
The bank then incurred a loss of over $1.79 million.
The fraud was eventually uncovered when nominee buyers linked to the ruse defaulted on the loans.
Rai was earlier sentenced to 7½ years’ jail in August 2024 after he was convicted of multiple charges for offences including cheating.
Kok, whose offences involved one of the properties, was sentenced to 4½ years behind bars after the court found him guilty of a cheating charge and two counts of using forged documents as original copies.
Kok’s seven other charges were then slated to be dealt with at a later date.
He later appealed against his conviction and sentence.
Responding on Dec 22 to queries from The Straits Times, the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) said that in April, the High Court dismissed Kok’s appeal against his conviction and sentence.
Without revealing details, an AGC spokesperson added: “After careful consideration of the facts and circumstances of the matter, including the sentences related to the charges for which Kok was convicted, the prosecution applied for a discharge amounting to an acquittal for the remaining charges.”
A district court granted it on Dec 16.
