AIA Cheats Dumb Rich Elderly Couple Twice! Guess If Couple Will Get Back Their Money?

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An honorable member of the Coffee Shop Has Just Posted the Following:

SINGAPORE: A former AIA insurance agent pleaded guilty on Thursday (May 5) to cheating an elderly couple of more than US$5 million (S$6.8 million), after denying the charges for years. Her guilty plea was entered amid a long-running trial.

Sally Low Ai Ming, 40, sold a fake insurance policy to Mr Ong Han Ling and his wife in 2002 for US$5,060,000. Low then used part of the sum to purchase insurance policies for Mr Ong, 78, and his wife, 77, without their knowledge or consent.

For the next six years, the couple were under Low’s thumb, in what prosecutors have described as “an elaborate and prolonged scheme of deception”.

Low pleaded guilty to five out of 21 charges, including three counts of cheating, one count of using a forged document and one count of removing more than S$5 million from Singapore’s jurisdiction.

In January 2005, Low claimed that due to a computer glitch, Mr Ong’s name had been mistakenly used to purchase a policy valued at S$5 million. She also informed the businessman this policy had since generated revenue of almost S$888,000.

Low told Mr Ong he needed to pay back AIA the principal sum of S$5 million, although he could keep the profit. Tricked into believing he had received a policy not due to him, Mr Ong issued a cheque for S$5 million to Low.

The insurance agent moved the money to Hong Kong, transferring the sum into an American Express account under the name of a company registered in the British Virgin Islands. A check later showed Low owned the company.

In September 2006, Low again duped Mr Ong and his wife into believing there had been a glitch in AIA’s computer systems, this time getting the couple to hand over US$1 million.

The court heard that the deception came to light in 2007 or 2008, around the time of maturity of the fake 2002 policy, when Mr Ong contacted AIA directly to enquire about reinvesting its returns. AIA informed him no such policy existed.

A District Court is expected to hear submissions on sentencing from the prosecution and defence on Friday. For cheating, Low could be jailed up to seven years and fined.

Mr Ong and his wife are also in the midst of a civil suit being heard in the High Court. The couple have sued AIA for negligence and breach of duty of care, asserting the insurer’s vicarious liability for Low’s fraudulent scheme.

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/....html?cid=FBSG


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