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General Veers
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Jun 30, 2010
Cheated condo of $1.6m, jailed
<!-- by line --> By Khushwant Singh
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<!-- end left side bar --> <!-- story content : start --> TO FEED his gambling habit, Chew Swee Siong forged 185 cheques totalling $1.6 million between August 2006 and November 2007. He was jailed 41/2 years on Wednesday by a district court for cheating West Bay Condominium. The 31-year-old was then an administration and accounts assistant of Kenwood Property Consultant assigned to the condo along West Coast Road.
By forging the signatures of the then treasurer and chairman of the management committee, he cashed out amounts ranging from $300 to $23,500 from the condo's bank accounts. He also admitted transferring $950,000 to a Malaysian bookie for an online betting service and then cashing out $50,000, which was paid into his own bank account in February 2007.
Last October, The Straits Times reported that Chew was ordered to cough up $2.2 million after he was taken to the High Court by the condo's management committee for siphoning funds. Criminal charges were subsequently filed against him. Chew worked for four years without incident. In May 2006, condominium manager Ngee Kok Wing, 47,was posted to West Bay by Kenwood.
He discovered loopholes in the accounts system and shared this information with Chew. Then, both men separately embezzled funds. Ngee was jailed for 31/2 years this April for forging 75 cheques amounting to $535,500.
