Ex-insurance agent admits cheating victim of more than $543k in fictitious investment scheme

SINGAPORE - A former insurance agent admitted in a district court that he duped a man into transferring more than $543,000 to him over 35 occasions between March 2018 and March 2019.

Andrew Tiew Siew Ing, 44, whose employment with an insurance firm was terminated in May 2018, managed to convince the victim to take part in an “investment opportunity” that did not exist.

On Nov 25, Tiew, who has since made more than $16,000 in restitution to the victim, pleaded guilty to two cheating charges and an unrelated assault charge.

He cheated the victim, 44, who is a son of a former customer, of another $30,400 in 2019.

This time, Tiew claimed that he needed money to process the sale of his properties in Malaysia, and that the funds raised would be used to purportedly repay the victim’s “investment monies”.

But Tiew did not own any properties in Malaysia, and instead used the ill-gotten gains to gamble at the Marina Bay Sands casino.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Lee Da Zhuan said Tiew was working as a bank relationship manager when he got to know the victim’s mother, who became his customer.

Tiew later joined an insurance firm, and in January 2018, he told the victim about an “investment scheme” linked to insurance policies.

Tiew claimed that he was working with a team at another insurance firm and that the scheme provided “good returns”.

According to him, the scheme involved creating insurance policies in the name of fake clients.

The DPP told the court: “Further details of this scheme were not shared with the victim. However, the accused informed the victim that the investment opportunity would provide the victim with returns of between 10 per cent and 40 per cent on the sums invested.

“The victim knew from the accused’s representations that the investment schemes required creating insurance policies with fake credentials. But he nevertheless agreed to participate in the investment scheme, as it guaranteed high returns for him.”

This “investment opportunity” did not exist, and the unsuspecting victim later transferred more than $543,000 in total to Tiew.

Believing that Tiew owned properties in Malaysia, the victim transferred another $30,400 to the offender over five occasions between April and June 2019.

The victim alerted the police in May 2020.

In an unrelated case, Tiew was working as a delivery rider when he got into a dispute with a 50-year-old man over a parking space in River Valley Road on April 4, 2024.

Tiew punched the older man, who suffered multiple facial fractures and was treated at Singapore General Hospital.

On Nov 25, DPP Lee urged the court to sentence Tiew to up to three years and four months’ jail for all three of his charges, stressing that his cheating offences were premeditated.

The prosecutor added: “He took advantage of the trust he had built with the victim, through his relationship with the victim’s mother.

“He went to great lengths to prolong the deception by offering the victim more fictitious investments. The financial loss caused to the victim was enormous.”

Tiew will be sentenced on Dec 9.