A former financial adviser for Great Eastern in Singapore was sentenced to two years and eight months in prison for selling fake insurance policies to four clients, netting over SG$300,000 from the victims.
Alvin Koo Jing You, 35, was an agent at Great Eastern from 2017 to 2019, until he was fired after his actions were discovered by his employer, Today reported. He pleaded guilty to three counts of forgery for the purpose of cheating, while three other similar charges were taken into consideration for sentencing.
Koo told four of his clients that he would sell them resale insurance policies, which were surrendered by the original policyholders before reaching maturity. He said that the offer was exclusive to clients who had already bought certain policies from him.
However, the policies Koo sold were held by clients who did not indicate any intention to surrender them, the report said. To convince the clients to buy, Koo forged multiple documents, such as maturity benefits letters, bank detail letters, and receipts. He typed these documents using his personal laptop and pasted Great Eastern’s logo to make them look legitimate, the court heard.
Koo also used genuine Great Eastern purchase documents, but he forged the signatures of the purported original policyholders on these forms.
One of the victims, a 46-year-old Japanese man, was told by Koo that the resale policies were available exclusively to high-net-worth clients who had bought universal life and prestige life plans. The man bought four “resale policies”, valued at SG$105,000, between July and November 2018. When he did not receive any policy documents from the insurer, he contacted Koo to ask for clarification. Before Koo could respond, the victim found out that the policies were falsified from another victim. Koo refunded him with SG$1,000 within a day.
When Koo was placed under investigation, it was discovered that he had also cheated a 48-year-old woman, who knew him because her daughters were previously tutored by Koo’s father-in-law. Koo had pocketed SG$130,500 between July 2018 and June 2019, having forged 27 documents to gain access to the money.
According to the report, Koo used the money to pay for personal expenses, such as his mother’s surgery fees and business expenses. He also used it to pay his credit card loans.
Great Eastern paid restitution to the victims, and Koo agreed with his former employer to pay back the amount on an instalment basis. However, he defaulted on the arrangement earlier this year and has yet to pay SG$96,000.
