Two Prudential insurance agents charged with falsifying coaching form entries

SINGAPORE: Two insurance agents of Prudential Assurance Company were on Thursday (May 19) charged with falsifying entries in coaching forms.

Eunice Yuen Pui Leng, 44, and Grace Tan Zhen Zhi, 38, were each given two charges under the Financial Advisers Act. Yuen also received another three counts under the same Act, and one count of obstruction of justice.

The women are suspected of making false entries in seven coaching forms each for two other financial consultants between Sep 14 and Sep 16, 2018.

Yuen was the agency supervisor for the two, and allegedly asked Tan to make the false entries before giving the coaching forms to a Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) investigating officer on Sep 17, 2018.

The forms purportedly contained false or misleading information about the dates of coaching sessions and details of matters discussed during the sessions, according to charge sheets.

Yuen was charged with falsely telling the same MAS investigating officer on Oct 5, 2018 that she personally filled in the coaching forms.

She also stands accused of obstructing the course of justice by deleting WhatsApp messages when she knew that these were likely to be required by MAS for its investigation.

Both women will return to court next month.

Under the Financial Advisers Act, it is an offence for an agent to make a false entry in any document of the business, affairs, transactions, conditions or assets of a financial adviser. This is punishable with up to two years' jail, a fine of up to S$100,000 or both.

The offence of furnishing false information can be punished with up to two years' jail, a fine of up to S$50,000 or both under the same Act.

Those guilty of intentionally obstructing the course of justice can be jailed for up to seven years, fined or both.