SINGAPORE: The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) on Tuesday (Nov 26) issued 14-year prohibition orders to a former UOB employee, following his conviction for cheating, forgery and acquiring benefits of criminal conduct offences.
MAS also said that the offences committed by Loh Sheng Yang gave it reason to believe that “he will not perform financial advisory and capital markets services honestly”.
On Feb 15, Loh was convicted of nine charges – seven counts of cheating, one count of forgery and one count of acquiring benefits of criminal conduct – with another 13 charges taken into consideration. He was sentenced to five years and eight months in jail.
Loh defrauded a total of 17 victims of more than S$1 million (US$742,420) by inducing them to sign up for fictitious UOB fixed and structured deposit products between Jun 10, 2021 and Feb 6 2023, according to MAS.
“He then instructed the victims to transfer monies to him, in cash and to various bank accounts, for the placement of the purported deposits,” it added. “Forged documents were also given to some victims to convince them that their monies had been deposited with the bank.”
Loh subsequently used the monies obtained from the victims for online gambling, MAS said, adding that he started committing the offences while he was employed as a representative for UOB.
This continued even after he was suspended by UOB and while he was under investigation by the police.
Under the prohibition orders, which took effect on Tuesday, Loh is not allowed to provide any financial advisory services.
He is also prohibited from taking part in the management, acting as a director, or becoming a substantial shareholder of any financial advisory firm under the Financial Advisers Act, said MAS.
Loh is also prohibited from performing any regulated activity and from taking part in the management, acting as a director, or becoming a substantial shareholder, of any capital markets services firm under the Securities and Futures Act, Singapore’s central bank added.
In response to CNA’s queries, UOB said it suspended Loh immediately once it was aware of his alleged misconduct, and dismissed him in January 2023.
“We have also rendered immediate support to victims and assisted police in their investigation,” the bank added.
UOB said it takes a “zero tolerance approach against any employee’s wilful acts of misconduct and breach of the bank’s code of conduct, which … requires all staff to uphold the highest professional and ethical standards”.
The bank added that it had also strengthened its internal processes, such as tightening employee access to its systems and premises and enhancing monitoring of employee checks.
