Ex-UOB staff disclosed to loan sharks and leading to jail

A former compliance officer at United Overseas Bank (UOB) was sentenced to 12 weeks’ jail. This was for giving customers’ details to an unlicensed moneylender. Koh Chee Tong, 30, faced four charges under the Computer Misuse and Cybersecurity Act. He previously pleaded guilty at his trial on Nov 25, 2016.

In November, the court found that Koh gave the particulars and contact details of potential debtors to a loanshark. This was after he had landed himself in S$16,000 debt due to gambling.

Koh obtained the particulars via the bank’s customer database. The loanshark, “Ah King”, then used these details to try and expand his customer base. UOB customers lodged at least two police reports after receiving harassing phone calls from “Ah King”.

At the trial in November, Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Sanjiv Vaswani said Koh’s actions had “gone against the very nature of his work” as a compliance officer. DPP Vaswani urged the the court to impose six months’ jail, as Koh’s offences “compromised the integrity of the banking sector”.

However, defence lawyer Kalidass Murugaiyan said Koh had agreed to provide “Ah King” with the details of UOB customers because it was the “least onerous option”. Mr Kalidass said a high fine would be sufficient punishment as he committed the offences “in a moment of folly”, pointing out that no actual harm was caused to the victims.

“This is a peculiar case,” Mr Kalidass said, adding that Koh “deliberately chose persons with a sound financial background when selecting names from the bank’s database”, in the belief that they were less likely to require an illegal loan from “Ah King”.

Koh faced up to two years’ jail and/or a S$5,000 fine per charge.

DO NOT associate yourself with unlicensed moneylenders in any way. NEVER help them for any amount of money because it may get you into more trouble than you expected. DO NOT borrow from loansharks as it can spiral out of control. If you need cash, approach a bank or another option will be a licensed moneylender.

If you are looking for a money lender, take a look through our list of licensed moneylender and moneylender review to find one that is suitable for your needs.

Article source: CNA. Read more here.
Image source: Google Images.