A 34-year-old man will be charged in court on 16 June 2020 for criminal breach of trust, falsification of accounts, cheating and related money-laundering offences amounting to the total financial loss of more than $5.4 million incurred by the company he was employed at, a pawnshop, during the time of the offences.
Investigations revealed that between June 2013 and August 2018, the man allegedly caused unauthorised cash cheques to be drawn on the company’s bank account. To give the false impression that the cash cheque withdrawals were legitimate, he created fake pawn tickets not backed by pledges and falsified corresponding entries in the company’s database. The man allegedly used the misappropriated funds to gamble at the casinos, service the interest payments for the monthly renewals of the fake pawn tickets and make dividends distribution to shareholders of the company. The man had also converted part of the criminal proceeds into branded watches and used it as down-payment for a luxury car.
The man will be charged in court on 16 June 2020 with the following offences:
a) 2 counts of criminal breach of trust by by clerk or servant, punishable under Section 408 of the Penal Code, which carries a jail term of up to 15 years and a fine;
b) 2 counts of falsification of accounts, punishable under Section 477A of the Penal Code, which carries a jail term of up to 10 years and a fine;
c) 1 count of cheating, punishable under Section 417 of the Penal Code, which carries a jail term of up to 3 years and a fine;
d) 1 count of cheating and dishonestly inducing a delivery of property, punishable under Section 420 of the Penal Code, which carries a jail term of up to 10 years and a fine;
e) 4 counts of converting benefits of criminal conduct (money laundering), punishable under Section 47(1)(b) of the Corruption, Drug Trafficking and Other Serious Crimes (Confiscation of Benefits) Act, which carries a jail term of up to 10 years, a fine of up to $500,000, or both; and
f) 1 count of using benefits of criminal conduct (money laundering), punishable under Section 47(1)(c) of the Corruption, Drug Trafficking and Other Serious Crimes (Confiscation of Benefits) Act, which carries a jail term of up to 10 years, a fine of up to $500,000, or both.
SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE
15 June 2020 @ 3:00 PM