A director of a now-dissolved company who duped five banks into disbursing more than $10 million for transactions that never took place was yesterday sentenced to two years and two months' jail.
On Tuesday, So Seow Tiong, 61, had pleaded guilty to 25 cheating charges. Another 50 similar charges were taken into consideration during sentencing.
The Singaporean's offences involved using fraudulent documents to apply for trade financing from five banks between 2007 and 2011. They were Chang Hwa Commercial Bank, UOB, OCBC Bank, Maybank and ABN Amro Bank.
Senior District Judge Bala Reddy noted the scam was perpetrated over several years and a deterrent sentence was warranted to dissuade others from similar crimes.
At the time of the offences, So was director of electronics manufacturer SPE Technology (Singapore) and held a 38 per cent stake. The company was dissolved on Jan 24, 2015. He also managed FSL Business Enterprise (Singapore), which sold electronic components, though he was not its director.
So had authority over the use of FSL's funds and would give instructions to its then director, Ms Quek Swee Wah, who had no say in the company's business.
Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority records show that FSL has since ceased business.
Between March 27, 2007, and Jan 11, 2011, So instructed FSL to prepare 75 invoices and corresponding delivery orders to reflect SPE Technology's purported purchases of various items from it.
He also took steps to make the documents look authentic, by acts such as instructing Ms Quek to sign them and ensuring the invoices were stamped.
So submitted the fraudulent documents to the banks to apply for trade financing on 75 occasions.
After FSL received the funds from the banks, So got the company to transfer the money to SPE Technology.
He then made SPE Technology's accounting records falsely reflect that the supposed purchases had been cancelled.
So also got Ms Quek to sign on documents purportedly issued by FSL stating that the "goods" had been supposedly returned to it.
So's offences were uncovered after the Commercial Affairs Department (CAD) received a complaint on Aug 1, 2012, from SPE Technology's liquidators about the company getting trade financing from banks using fictitious purchases.
The monies disbursed by the banks were repaid before the CAD began investigations.
Ms Quek was fined $5,000 last year over her involvement in So's offences.
For cheating and dishonestly inducing another person to deliver property, offenders can be jailed for up to 10 years and fined.
