Following investigations by the Commercial Affairs Department, a 33-year-old former financial planner (“the accused”) has been charged in court for cheating and forgery offences in relation to his selling of Investment-Linked Policies (“ILPs”).
Investigations revealed that the accused had cheated seven victims who were his clients by forging and misrepresenting insurance policy documents.
Before 2013, the accused sold insurance savings plans from an insurance company to these clients whilst working at a major local bank. In 2013, the accused left the aforementioned insurance company and joined a second insurance company as a financial planner. The accused then contacted the seven clients with the intent to sell them ILPs offered by the second insurance company. The accused misrepresented to them that if they bought the ILPs, the policy value of their existing savings plans from the first insurance company would be brought over to their ILP for the second insurance company. The seven victims were thereby induced to purchase the ILPs from him. To support his misrepresentations, the accused forged various documents purporting to be from the two insurance companies to create the impression that the policy values of their savings plans had been transferred over to their ILP. As a result of the accused’s misrepresentations, the victims had ceased paying premiums on their savings plans of the first insurance company. Unbeknownst to the victims, the policy values from the first insurance company’s policies were not brought over and their savings plans lapsed. Collectively, more than $22,000 worth of premiums paid for the savings plans from the first insurance company were forfeited as a result of policy lapse.
The accused has been charged in court on 6 December 2019 with the following offences:
- Seven counts of cheating under Section 420 of the Penal Code, Chapter 224. If convicted, he faces imprisonment for a term which may extend to 10 years, and shall also be liable to fine; and
- Seven counts of forgery for the purpose of cheating under Section 468 of the Penal Code, Chapter 224. If convicted, he faces imprisonment for a term which may extend to 10 years, and shall also be liable to fine.
The Police will not hesitate to take strict enforcement action against those found breaking the law.
SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE
06 December 2019 @ 10:45 AM