Ex-property agent gets 24 weeks' jail for forgery
By Alvina Soh | Posted: 21 January 2013 1631 hrs
Former property agent Andrew Sng Chin Lee has been sentenced to 24 weeks' jail for forgery and cheating the taxman in stamp duties. (Photo: Public Affairs Department, Singapore Police Force)
SINGAPORE: A former property agent has been sentenced to 24 weeks' jail for forgery, cheating and counterfeiting stamp certificates.
Andrew Sng Chin Lee, 43, who was an estate agent with HSR International Realtors, pleaded guilty to four charges under the Stamp Duties Act.
The father-of-three was also guilty of another three charges of cheating and forgery.
Four similar charges were taken into consideration.
He committed the offences between July and October 2011.
He collected S$865 worth of stamp duty payable from four tenants for four rental transactions and pocketed part of the money.
He then created four fake stamp certificates and presented them to the landlords, agents and tenants.
Sng also forged documents on tenancy and termination of lease to deceive a landlord and a tenant into forking out a total of over S$21,800 in transaction fees.
He has made S$14,500 in restitution for the police charges.
Sng's service was terminated by his company on June 6 last year.
The court also heard that Sng was facing financial problems at the time of the offences.
- CNA/fa