Ravi Chandran
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has issued prohibition orders (POs) against financial advisers for fraud and dishonest conduct. The financial advisers are:
| Name | Duration of Prohibition Orders |
| Mr Poh Kim Chuan, former representative of The Great Eastern Life Assurance Company Ltd (Great Eastern) |
12 years |
| Mr Chew Kheng Swee,former representative of Prudential Assurance Co. Singapore (Pte) Ltd (Prudential) | 10 years |
| Mr Yap Bin Chun, former representative of United Overseas Bank Ltd (UOB) |
10 years |
| Mr Lin Weiwen, William, former representative of Oversea Chinese Banking Corporation Ltd (OCBC) |
8 years |
| Mr Kelvin Goh Shang Fei, former representative of NTUC Income Insurance Co-operative Ltd (NTUC) |
6 years |
| Mr Lam Allan, former representative of AIA Singapore Pte Ltd (AIA) |
6 years |
The POs were issued against these financial advisers following their convictions in the State Courts of Singapore for offences involving fraud and dishonesty. The six court cases against these financial advisers were not related.
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The orders against the financial advisers took effect from 18 March 2020.
Ms Loo Siew Yee, Assistant Managing Director (Policy, Payments & Financial Crime), MAS, said, “MAS expects representatives of our financial institutions to act with honesty and integrity at all times. The first five individuals abused the trust that their clients placed in them for their personal gain, while the last individual forged documents in order to evade taxes. Such dishonest behaviour has no place in Singapore’s financial industry and MAS will take action to exclude individuals who commit such acts from the industry.”
12-year POs issued against Mr Poh Kim Chuan
Mr Poh is prohibited for a period of 12 years from (i) providing any financial advisory services, or taking part in the management of, acting as a director of, or becoming a substantial shareholder of any financial advisory firm under the Financial Advisers Act (Cap. 110) (FAA); and (ii) carrying on business as, or taking part in the management of, any insurance intermediary under the Insurance Act (Cap. 142) (IA).
Between 2007 to 2012, Mr Poh misappropriated a total of $190,822.59 from 32 policyholders. The money was meant for the payment of premiums for existing insurance policies, topping up of policies, buying of new policies as well as payment for renewal of car insurance and road tax. He was convicted of criminal breach of trust (CBT) and cheating under the Penal Code (PC), and was sentenced to 34 months’ imprisonment.
10-year POs against Mr Chew Kheng Swee
Mr Chew is prohibited for a period of 10 years from (i) providing any financial advisory services, or taking part in the management of, acting as a director of, or becoming a substantial shareholder of any financial advisory firm under the FAA; and (ii) carrying on business as, or taking part in the management of, any insurance intermediary under the IA.
Mr Chew cheated five victims of a total of $325,310. He deceived the victims into making lump sum premium payments for insurance policies, but instead used the money for his own purposes. He also forged signatures on insurance policy documents to deceive Prudential into accepting applications for the policies in two victims’ names without their knowledge. For this, Mr Chew was convicted of cheating and forgery under the PC. The Court sentenced him to 45 months’ imprisonment.
10-year POs against Mr Yap Bin Chun
Mr Yap is prohibited for a period of 10 years from (i) providing any financial advisory services, or taking part in the management of, acting as a director of, or becoming a substantial shareholder of any financial advisory firm under the FAA; and (ii) performing any regulated activities, or taking part in the management of, acting as a director of, or becoming a substantial shareholder of any capital market licensee under the Securities and Futures Act (Cap. 289) (SFA).
Mr Yap had devised a plan to cheat his client of $218,100 from his unit trust investments. Knowing that the victim would not be in Singapore for a considerable period of time, he obtained signatures from the victim on blank forms. These blank forms allowed Mr Yap to redeem the client’s unit trust, open a new bank account and apply for a debit card so that he could withdraw the redemption proceeds from the unit trust investment without being detected by the victim.
While being investigated by the Police for the above offence, Mr Yap cheated a second victim of a sum of $20,000 by lying to the second victim that he (Mr Yap) required the money for bail. Mr Yap was convicted of cheating and forgery under the PC. The Court sentenced him to 42 months’ imprisonment.
8-year PO against Mr Lin Weiwen, William
Mr Lin is prohibited for a period of 8 years from providing any financial advisory services, or taking part in the management of, acting as a director of, or becoming a substantial shareholder of any financial advisory services firm under the FAA.
Mr Lin deceived a client into believing that she would be partially surrendering a policy, but subsequently executed a full surrender instead in order to keep the balance of the funds for himself. He obtained the victim’s signatures on various documents to open a new bank account in the victim’s name so that he could receive the funds without her knowledge. He then transferred part of the funds to the victim and forged a letter, purportedly issued by the insurer, to give the victim the false impression that a partial surrender of her policy had been completed. He also forged the victim’s signature on a cheque linked to the bank account to pay for his personal purchase. He cheated the victim of $30,535.
Mr Lin was convicted of forgery under the PC. The Court sentenced him to 16 months’ imprisonment.
6-year POs against Mr Kelvin Goh Shang Fei
Mr Goh is prohibited for a period of 6 years from (i) providing any financial advisory services, or taking part in the management of, acting as a director of, or becoming a substantial shareholder of any financial advisory firm under the FAA; and (ii) carrying on business as, or taking part in the management of, any insurance intermediary under the IA.
Mr Goh lied to his client that the client would receive vouchers worth $1,000 if he made a lump sum payment on his policy. The client handed over a cash cheque of $27,399.90, which Mr Goh used to repay his debts to moneylenders. Mr Goh was convicted of cheating under the PC and was sentenced to 15 months’ imprisonment.
6-year POs against Mr Lam Allan
Mr Lam is prohibited for a period of 6 years from (i) providing any financial advisory services, taking part in the management of, acting as a director of, or becoming a substantial shareholder of any financial advisory firm under the FAA; and (ii) carrying on business as, taking part in the management of any insurance intermediary under the IA.
Mr Lam had wilfully made a false entry in a return made under the Income Tax Act (ITA) by declaring that his income for Year of Assessment 2014 was $123,796 instead of $401,356. This resulted in an undercharged tax amounting to $50,348.20. When the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) asked Mr Lam for documentary evidence of his declared expenses, he used his clients’ names, without their knowledge, to forge 36 payment vouchers showing that he paid referral fees to these individuals and forwarded the forged documents to IRAS.
18 Mr Lam was convicted of making a false entry in an income tax return under the ITA. He was sentenced by the Court to 4 months’ prison and a penalty amount of $151,044.60.
