Singaporean property agent, Fong Wai Loon, has been sentenced to 12 months’ jail for forging the signature of his Indonesian client and stealing rental money, according to media reports.
The States Courts yesterday sentenced the 37-year old property agent of criminal breach of trust and forgery for the purpose of cheating, which carries a maximum prison term of seven years and 10 years respectively, and a fine.
In 2009, Fong helped Indonesian businessman Rocky Bastiaan rent out his apartment on Scotts Road to international law firm, Ince & Co. The firm would issue Bastiaan a cheque amounting to $6,300 for its monthly rent. The cheque would be collected by Fong, on behalf of his client, and then deposited into Bastiaan’s Singapore Citibank account.
After experiencing some financial difficulties, Fong made a letter directing the firm to create a General Interbank Recurring Order (GIRO) payment arrangement for the unit’s monthly rental fee to be directed into his United Overseas Bank (UOB) account.
Fong forged Bastiaan’s signature in the letter and deceived Ince into making six monthly payments in the bank account.
In 2010, Ince stopped making payments after it discovered the forgery. The firm has transferred $37,800 into Fong’s UOB account by then.
Senior District Judge Liew Thiam Leng noted the charges against Fong were serious and the stolen amount was considerable. But since Fong had already made restitution, the court decided to reduce his sentence to both charges to 12 months in prison with no fine.
Muneerah Bee, Senior Journalist at PropertyGuru, edited this story. To contact her about this or other stories email muneerah@propertyguru.com.sg
