MAS Bans Three Individuals for Fraudulent and Dishonest Conduct

Singapore, 10 April 2019. The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has issued prohibition orders (POs) against two former bank employees and a former insurance agent for fraudulent and dishonest conduct. The individuals are:

The POs were issued against Ms Tang, Mr Nguyen and Mr Koh following their convictions in the State Courts of Singapore for offences involving fraud and dishonesty. The three court cases are not related. The ban against the three individuals took effect from 5 April 2019.

20-year POs issued against Ms Emeline Tang Wei Leng

Ms Tang is prohibited for a period of 20 years from (i) providing any capital markets and financial advisory services under the Securities and Futures Act (SFA) and the Financial Advisers Act (FAA); and (ii) taking part in the management of, acting as a director of, or becoming a substantial shareholder of any capital market and financial advisory services firm under the SFA and FAA¹.

She had deceived five individuals into handing over more than $5 million to her on the pretext of placing the monies into fixed deposit accounts with HSBC on their behalf. Forged documents were given to the victims to convince them that their monies had been deposited with the bank. In June 2018, Ms Tang was convicted of cheating and forgery offences under the Penal Code (PC), as well as offences under the Corruption, Drug Trafficking and Other Serious Crimes (Confiscation of Benefits) Act (CDSA) for using the proceeds of her crime. She was sentenced to 10 years and 6 months’ imprisonment.

12-year PO issued against Mr Nguyen Duy Minh

Mr Nguyen is prohibited for a period of 12 years from providing financial advisory services, acting as a director, or becoming a substantial shareholder of any financial advisory firm under the FAA².

He had sold fictitious financial products to his customers and forged documents to purchase financial products without their knowledge. He also misappropriated monies entrusted to him by a customer, instead of depositing it into the customer’s bank account as instructed. Mr Nguyen’s actions caused eight customers to lose approximately $500,000.  In June 2018, he was convicted of offences involving cheating, forgery and criminal breach of trust under the PC, and offences under the CDSA. He was sentenced to 3 years and 9 months’ imprisonment.

10-year POs issued against Mr Koh Zhan Loong John

Mr Koh is prohibited for a period of 10 years from (i) providing financial advisory services, acting as a director, or becoming a substantial shareholder of any financial advisory firm under the FAA; and (ii) carrying on business as, and taking part in the management of, any insurance intermediary under the Insurance Act (IA) for a period of 10 years³.

He had misappropriated insurance premiums amounting to approximately $500,000, which he had collected from 11 customers.  In June 2018, Mr Koh was convicted of one charge of criminal breach of trust under the PC and sentenced to 4 years’ imprisonment.

Mr Lee Boon Ngiap, Assistant Managing Director (Capital Markets), MAS, said: “MAS imposed POs of considerable duration against these individuals as they had abused their position of trust by engaging in criminal conduct at the expense of their customers. Their egregious misconduct caused considerable monetary losses to the victims. MAS will act firmly and decisively against financial services professionals who undermine consumers’ trust and work to keep such unsuitable persons out of the industry.”

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¹ The POs against Ms Tang were issued under section 101A of the SFA and section 59 of the FAA.
² The PO against Mr Nguyen was issued under section 59 of the FAA.
³ The POs against Mr Koh were issued under section 59 of the FAA and section 35V of the IA.