In trouble over 20,000 litres of cough syrup

[Cream]

In trouble over 20,000 litres of cough syrup

Photo: The Straits Times

Elena Chong
Saturday, Oct 31, 2015

A former sales manager of a pharmaceutical company delivered more than 20,000 litres of cough syrup to a Malaysian despite suspecting that he was selling it on the black market, a court heard yesterday.

Ashley Jas Ang Wei Hoon, 38, supplied batches of the medicine to Wong Kin Yu at least 188 times from May 2009, in an effort to hit sales targets.

The estimated 20,307 litres involved is the highest amount of codeine dealt with in such cases, the court heard.

Wong would contact and instruct Ang to place orders under different clinic names.

She would then place the orders with her company, Beacons Pharmaceuticals.

After the medicine was delivered to Wong, he would sign the invoices and stamp the details of various clinics. She knew that he had provided false details in the invoices with the intent to commit fraud.

Yesterday, Ang, who faced 395 charges, admitted 30 counts each of supplying a medicinal product which is not on the general sales list; and conspiring with Wong and clinic assistant Soh Woon Mei to forge tax invoices to deceive Beacons into believing that the orders were from general practitioner clinics.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Stacey Anne Fernandez said the Health Sciences Authority discovered discrepancies between invoices for deliveries by Beacons to 72 clinics and orders by the clinics between Aug 9, 2009 and May 19, 2010.

The clinics confirmed that they had not placed such orders with Beacons and that the clinic stamps and signatures on the invoices were not theirs.

In May 2009, Ms Soh, who worked at Kim Tian Clinic, asked Ang if she could help her order and deliver bottles of codeine-based cough syrup to Wong, who had previously visited the clinic.

Ang initially declined, but later, after realising she could not meet her team's sales target, accepted Ms Soh's request.

DPP Fernandez said Ang had wanted to develop a good portfolio "in the hope of getting a job in another multinational company".

She said that between May 2009 and May 2010, Ang delivered a total of 5,345 bottles of cough syrup and 20 bottles of codeine and other tablets to Wong. Ang claims to have received a total of $10,000 from the deliveries.

Among some of the aggravating factors cited by DPP Fernandez were Ang's abuse of position of trust, that it was a difficult offence to detect and that she had been motivated by financial gain.

Ms Soh died of a natural cause during investigation while a warrant of arrest is out for Wong.

The case was adjourned until Nov 6 for Ang's lawyer Tan Cheow Hung to mitigate.

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[Microsoft]

sales target ish de root of all evil...we shd ban sales target...

 

[Big Sexy]

MS.. you sure sales target is the da root of all evil meh? not Seleven meh?

sales target ish de root of all evil...we shd ban sales target...

 

[Microsoft]

MS.. you sure sales target is the da root of all evil meh? not Seleven meh?

seleven? Ximi lai? HSA another clown...ppl sell cough med they oso wan 2 chup jit kar...drink cough med ish much better then take drugs mah...

 

[Cream]

Woman jailed 21 months for forgery and supplying 20,300 litres of codeine

The 20,307 litres of cough syrup Ashley Jas Ang Wei Hoon, 38, sold was enough to fill a petrol tanker. ST PHOTO: WONG KWAI CHOW

Published 11 November 2015
Elena Chong
Court Correspondent

SINGAPORE - A former sales manager of a pharmaceutical company was jailed for 21 months on Wednesday for selling 20,000 litres of cough syrup - enough to fill a petrol tanker- as well as for forgery.

Ashley Jas Ang Wei Hoon, 38, who worked for Beacons Pharmaceuticals, also sold 20,000 pills of various types.

Ang, who faced a total of 395 charges, had pleaded guilty to 60 charges - 30 each of forgery for the purpose of cheating and selling medicinal products under the Medicines Act that are not on the General Sales List.

She supplied an estimated 20,307.2 litres of codeine-based cough syrup - the largest amount to date - between May 25, 2009, and May 26, 2010.

The court heard that she delivered 5,344 bottles of codeine-based cough syrup, each containing 3.8litres of the medicine, in a year.

She also illegally sold 20 bottles of drugs, each containing 1,000 pills, including Diapo tablets, which contain the stupefying drug diazepam, and Panaco tablets, a medication containing codeine, used for temporary fever relief.

In September 2008, she came to know clinic assistant Soh Woon Mei, who worked at Kim Tian Clinic in Tiong Bahru.
Ang admitted supplying a medicinal product that is not on the general sales list, and conspiring with two people to forge tax invoices.

In May 2009, Ms Soh called Ang, asking if she could help her order and deliver bottles of codeine-based Promedyl-B Linctus cough syrup to Malaysian Wong Kin Yu.

Ang initially declined but accepted the offer later, when she realised that she could not meet her team's sales target.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Stacey Anne Fernandez said that Ang wanted to hit her sales target and create "a good portfolio for herself in the hope of getting a job in another multi-national company in future".

Ang told her administrative staff to create invoices under Beacons Pharmaceuticals for an order purportedly made by Kim Tian Clinic.

Besides the rubber stamp of Kim Tian Clinic, Wong also used rubber stamps bearing the names of 72 clinics islandwide on the invoices brought by Ang. Ang used the invoices to deceive the company into believing the orders were made by various general practitioner clinics. Wong is at large.

District Judge Chay Yuen Fatt said in his brief grounds of decision that this may well be the worst case of unauthorised sale of codeine but the prosecution was far from seeking the highest possible sentence.

He accepted that Ang was not the mastermind but certainly no "pawn'' as characterised by her counsel, Mr Tan Cheow Hung.

"I would consider her to be a co-conspirator or, at the very least, she played the role of the seller in a 'buyer-seller' relationship in the illegal transactions." he said.

He said Ang committed the offences out of self-interest, even if she had not made any financial gain from the illegal transactions.

Judge Chay said that Ang was well aware of the dangers of selling medicines to the black market and the reason fo r the regulations of the sale of such products.