A former insurance agent in Singapore has been sentenced to one year in jail for selling a fake insurance policy to a friend from primary school.
Ex-AIA agent Sng Kang Xiang, 37, pleaded guilty in May, having confessed to tricking the victim into giving him SG$24,900 for a fake insurance policy as well as forging a letter from the insurer, Channel News Asia reported.
Sng was charged with one count each of cheating and forgery, and another two charges were considered in his year-long sentence.
Prior to committing the crimes, Sng was a financial services consultant and agent for AIA Singapore for close to 11 years. He and the victim went to primary school together, and he approached her in March 2018, inviting her to buy an insurance policy from an existing policyholder.
Sng told the victim that she needed to shell out SG$24,900 for the policy. After one year, she would receive the money back, plus an additional SG$5,293. The victim, who had bought other legitimate policies from Sng before, trusted him and transferred the money into his bank account.
According to the report, Sng used the money to have his flat renovated and to pay off his credit card debt.
The victim later followed up with Sng regarding the policy, which led him to forge a letter containing AIA’s letterhead. However, the victim became suspicious and later visited AIA to confirm, and she found out that no such policy existed.
The prosecution asked for a one-year sentence, while the defence argued for eight months, saying it was Sng’s first offence and that he made full restitution to AIA. The judge sided with the prosecution, but granted a reprieve to Sng, who had recently sold his house, to settle matters before serving his prison term.
