Woman who took part in 2 loan scams given 4 years, 3 months' jail
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A woman was yesterday sentenced to four years and three months' jail after taking part in a scam where she and an alleged accomplice posed as property owners in a bid to obtain a loan of over $1 million.
Foo Wei Lee, then an accountant, also took part in another ruse - a corporate loan fraud - in which financial firms were duped into disbursing more than $230,000 in total.
The 48-year-old Singaporean pleaded guilty last month to nine charges for offences including cheating and forgery.
Foo's alleged accomplices include 25-year-old Khor Choon Kiat, who was her boyfriend at the time; his mother Sim Seok Kuan, 54; and his friend Yeo Hwa Piao, 48. Their cases are still pending.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Tan Pei Wei said during an earlier proceeding that some time around December 2018, Khor and Sim hatched a plan to earn quick cash.
Khor roped in Foo as she was familiar with loan processes. He also recruited Yeo as the latter was willing to be the director of a firm called Foosball Strikers, the court heard.
DPP Tan said: "The accused persons applied for business loans under Foosball Strikers' name from at least four finance companies... The accused persons forged documents to prove that Foosball Strikers had ongoing business activities and was creditworthy, as well as that Yeo, as the director of Foosball Strikers, was creditworthy, though neither was true."
The financial firms, including Northstar Capital and Finaxar Capital, were duped into disbursing loans totalling over $230,000.
Some time around July 2019, Khor came up with another plan to make a fraudulent application for a loan secured on property belonging to others.
The DPP said that on Aug 23, 2019, Foo and Yeo posed as property owners - a married couple - to meet a relationship manager from Ethoz Capital to sign some loan documents. It then agreed to give a loan of $1.1 million.
Court documents do not state who alerted the police but Foo and her alleged accomplices were arrested on Oct 18, 2019, before Ethoz Capital transferred the cash.
