MAS issues prohibition order to six former Great Eastern agents for fraud, dishonest conduct

THE Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has prohibited six former agents of Great Eastern Financial Advisers (GEFA) from providing any financial advice, being part of the management, and becoming director or substantial shareholder of any financial advisory.

They are also disallowed from carrying on business and taking part in the management of any insurance intermediary. The six individuals will be prohibited from taking part in business activities for five years, starting from Thursday (Jun 1).

The former agents are Chan Jun Yi, Chanel Quah Hui Wen, Lim Zhan Yi, Sherlin Chia Hee Ping, Tang Hong Kong Jackie and Yvonne Quah.

These prohibitions were issued after they were convicted of tax evasion offences, said the central bank on Thursday.

Between April 2018 and April 2019, the former agents – who were part of the same team in GEFA – engaged a third party to assist them in falsely inflating their business expenses for their income tax returns.

The false expenses were allocated into the “general expenses” and “commission paid to introducers” categories.

GET BT IN YOUR INBOX DAILY

Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox.

Sign UpVIEW ALL

As a result, their income taxes for the 2018 and 2019 years of assessment were reduced by S$124,648.

On Sep 16, 2022, the six individuals were sentenced to imprisonment ranging from four days to eight weeks, and penalties ranging from S$7,965 to S$113,829.02.

The Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (Iras) had referred the matter to MAS for regulatory action.

MAS noted that it issued prohibition orders to the six individuals as each of them had “actively participated in the scheme to cheat Iras”.

“Their convictions for falsifying expense claims in income tax returns gave MAS reason to believe that they will not perform financial advisory services honestly,” it said.