A WEALTH planning manager with DBS Bank cheated four of his clients of S$348,000 in total by duping them into investing in fictitious fixed deposits with “attractive terms”.
Pang Yuheng, 28, also attempted to cheat two more clients.
On Feb 19, the Singaporean pleaded guilty to three counts of cheating involving S$324,000.
Three more charges, including one count of cheating linked to the remaining S$24,000, will be taken into consideration when he is sentenced in March.
Pang’s employment was terminated in June 2023. While he was working for the bank, his responsibilities included selling insurance-related investment products to its customers.
In March 2022, about a year after he joined DBS, Pang hatched a plan to offer fictitious fixed deposits with high interest rates to his clients, Deputy Public Prosecutor David Koh told the court.
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Pang decided to do so as he had significant debts to licensed moneylenders after suffering losses in online gambling.
From March 7, 2022, to March 1, 2023, he cheated four of DBS’ customers by deceiving them into transferring S$348,000 to his personal bank accounts.
Each customer was cheated of between S$24,000 and S$190,000.
DPP Koh said: “The accused targeted (them) as they were existing customers who had purchased insurance products from him. The accused would contact his customers over the phone or meet them in person to offer a purported fixed deposit.
“The purported terms of this fixed deposit included an interest rate from 4 per cent to 12.88 per cent a year, with a maturity period ranging from two months to 12 months.”
On some occasions, Pang would instruct the customers to transfer funds to his bank accounts when they agreed to the purported fixed deposit.
There were also instances when he met the customers in person and asked them to log in to their accounts via internet banking on their phones.
After they did so, he would take control of the devices and enter his own bank accounts as the recipient for the transfers of the funds.
He used a portion of his ill-gotten gains to fund his illegal online gambling activities and to invest in an asset management company.
In a bid to cover his tracks, he also used some of the money and his gambling winnings to make payments totalling more than S$104,000 to two of the victims.
He had earlier cheated the pair of S$98,000 in total.
DPP Koh said that DBS had made compensation totalling S$259,000 to the other two victims, whom Pang had earlier cheated of S$250,000.
Pang repaid S$70,000 to DBS, causing the bank to suffer a loss of S$189,000.
In June 2023, the police received a report from the bank about his offences. He was charged in court in 2024.
For each count of cheating, an offender can be jailed for up to 10 years and fined. THE STRAITS TIMES
