MAS bans former UOB, OCBC bank staff who cheated seven people of almost S$2m

A FORMER representative of UOB and OCBC has been banned by Singapore’s central bank after he was convicted for offences involving fraud and dishonesty.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has issued 15-year prohibition orders against Han Delong. The orders come into effect on Wednesday (Dec 7).

Han will not be allowed to provide any financial advisory service and is barred from taking part in the management, whether as a director or as a substantial shareholder, of any financial advisory firm. He 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, said MAS.

Han was convicted in May last year for criminal breach of trust, cheating, forgery, and transferring and converting benefits of his criminal conduct.

He was found to have deceived seven customers into transferring nearly S$2 million to his personal bank accounts by promoting fictitious fixed deposits and other investment products to the customers between 2015 and 2018.

He forged bank documents to give the impression that the transactions were genuine and later used the monies for his own benefit, including giving some to his brother and former girlfriend, and repaying other victims.

These offences took place while Han was employed as a senior personal banker at UOB and a relationship manager at OCBC, and even after he left the employment of both banks. 

He pleaded guilty and was convicted of 27 charges involving more than S$1.2 million in total, including five counts of criminal breach of trust, seven of cheating, and one of forgery.

“These convictions gave MAS reason to believe that Han had not performed and will not perform financial advisory services honestly,” said the central bank.

SEE ALSO

Binance placed on alert list after complaints; all crypto exchanges can fail: MAS

Even though Han is no longer an appointed representative in Singapore, MAS said it issued the prohibition orders to “safeguard the integrity of and trust in Singapore’s financial sector”.