Mr Yong Wei Onn, Louis Paul (the “accused”), a 34-year-old former loan broker, was convicted and sentenced on one count of forgery for the purpose of cheating in relation to his client’s income tax bill (Notice of Assessment), a document ordinarily issued by the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore.
As a loan broker, the accused assisted his clients in applying for bank loans. The accused would receive a percentage of the loan amount as a commission whenever his clients successfully obtained loans. In December 2014, he forged a client’s Notice of Assessment by altering the client’s employment income for the Year of Assessment 2014 from $57,825 to $71,700. The forged Notice of Assessment was then submitted to a bank in January 2015 in support of a loan application. The accused reflected a higher income for his client so as to increase the client’s company’s chances of obtaining the loan. The bank eventually discovered irregularities in the Notice of Assessment and rejected the loan application.
The accused also forged two other documents that were submitted to the bank in relation to the aforementioned loan application – (i) the client’s Notice of Assessment for the Year of Assessment 2013, and (ii) the financial statements of the client’s company for 2013. The two charges relating to these two forged documents were taken into consideration for sentencing purposes.
The accused was convicted on 21 December 2020, and sentenced to 3 months’ imprisonment on 19 January 2021. He began serving his sentence on 28 May 2021 after his appeal against the sentence was dismissed.
SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE
31 May 2021 @ 7:20 PM