Judge dismisses appeals in bank scam case
By Teo Xuanwei, TODAY | Posted: 14 March 2012 0651 hrs
Former bank employee Winnie Goh Li Ching (above), 33, faces the most number of offences of cheating, involving about $61 million worth of loans. --ST PHOTO: WONG KWAI CHOW
SINGAPORE: Expect the courts to come down hard on offenders whose crimes threaten the Republic's financial integrity, said High Court judge V.K. Rajah on Tuesday, as he dismissed the appeals by three perpetrators of a multi-million-dollar scam against a bank.
Former OCBC loan officer Winnie Goh Li Ching, 34, freelance property agent Matthew Lau Thuan Heng, 63, and his assistant Siti Rahayu Masud, 39, were appealing for a lowering of the five-year jail term they each received for scamming OCBC into releasing mortgage loans using forged income documents.
Goh faced a total of 189 charges for asking contacts to forge income statements or turn a blind eye to fake income tax or CPF statements of buyers who are unable to qualify for mortgage loans.
From 2004 to 2006, she deceived her employer into lending nearly S$63 million to 170 such "clients".
By the time she was nabbed, she had pocketed almost S$56,000 from the bank in commissions and estate agents' referral fees, as well as at least another S$93,000 from crooked property agents, according to court documents.
Lau and Siti Rahayu dealt with 14 of these transactions, involving some S$11 million in loans. The duo made a profit of over S$1.2 million.
Goh's lawyer Jason Chan argued that the penalty slapped on his client was too harsh, compared with sentences for other similar cases.
He said although the fraudulent mortgage loans involved a large quantum, these were secured risks, unlike in past cases where risks were unsecured.
But Justice Rajah noted that the bank's loss went beyond the S$700,000 after foreclosures of 22 properties - the bank's brand could have been affected since the offences involved one of its officers.
Mr K. Anparasan, who acted for Lau and Siti Rahayu, said his clients should get lighter sentences than Goh because they were less culpable.
His clients' charges only involved cheating, while Goh also faced forgery charges, he said.
Justice Rajah disagreed, saying Lau and Siti Rahayu were the ones who had approached Goh.
He also noted that cases like these needed "two hands to clap", so all three should be seen as "co-authors" of the scam.
Justice Rajah added that those who perpetrate fraud or deception within or on financial institutions "ought to expect robust punishments".
"Financial integrity is the lifeblood of the marketplace here, especially for financial institutions", and those who seek to corrupt it "should not expect any sympathy", he said.
More people believed to be involved in this scam are expected to be hauled to court in the coming days, as the public prosecutor told the court that the three were just the "tip of a very large iceberg". - TODAY
