SINGAPORE – An insurance agent with AIA Singapore abused the trust of her long-time client, who was also her friend, when she misappropriated $20,000 of the latter’s money.
Zaibun Nesa Haji Adam, 65, later lost more than $13,000 of that amount to a scam.
On April 25, she was sentenced to eight months and two weeks’ jail after she pleaded guilty to one count of criminal breach of trust.
Now unemployed and no longer working with the insurance firm, Zaibun had made a voluntary restitution of $1,000 to the 68-year-old female victim who had been her client for more than 10 years.
AIA reimbursed the remaining $19,000 to the victim out of goodwill. Zaibun had not made any restitution to the firm, the court heard.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Ryan Lim told the court that in late June 2021, the victim contacted Zaibun as she wanted to buy an insurance plan for her old age and retirement.
The victim had previously bought several insurance policies from AIA through Zaibun, said the prosecutor.
When the two women met the next month, Zaibun proposed that the victim invest between $12,000 and $20,000 in a policy.
The victim opted to invest $20,000 and was deceived into directly transferring the money to Zaibun’s bank account.
Zaibun had claimed that the AIA centre was closed and the funds would have to be transferred by proxy through her, DPP Lim said.
She misappropriated the money soon after, using nearly $13,600 of her ill-gotten gains to pay a “release fee” for a purported overseas investment, in which she was promised US$6.2 million (S$8.1 million) in profits.
This “overseas investment” later turned out to be a scam, and Zaibun lost this portion of the money that the victim had entrusted to her.
The DPP said that it was unclear what Zaibun did with the rest of her ill-gotten gains.
The victim’s application for the investment policy eventually lapsed as the $20,000 was not paid to AIA.
Zaibun’s offence came to light when the victim made a complaint to the firm over the lapsing of her policy, and an insurance investigator alerted the police in August 2022.
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On April 25, DPP Lim asked the court to sentence Zaibun to between eight and nine months’ jail, stressing that she had not made an adequate restitution.
He added: “The victim had previously purchased policies through the accused for both her and her family and considered (Zaibun) a trusted friend.
“Indeed, intimate human relationships such as friendships are based, first and foremost, on trust. An abuse of one’s position of trust and friendship should be taken seriously.”
Lawyers Tang Shangwei and Warren Tian from WongPartnership, who represented Zaibun pro bono, pleaded for their client to be given five months’ jail.
They stated in court documents she had been struggling with various medical conditions including diabetes and irritable bowel syndrome between June and August 2021.
The court heard that she is also the sole caregiver of her husband, who has various health issues, including colon cancer.
According to the lawyers, foreign scammers had duped their client into putting money in an investment scam in early 2020.
They added: “(Zaibun’s) state of mind was far from motivated by greed or financial gains.
“This is given that (she) was in despair from the health issues she and her husband were battling with, the financial struggles she was facing to support her family, and the pressure she was facing from the foreign scammers.”
Zaibun’s bail was set at $15,000 on April 25, and she is expected to surrender herself at the State Courts on June 25 to begin serving her sentence.
- Shaffiq Alkhatib is The Straits Times’ court correspondent, covering mainly criminal cases heard at the State Courts.
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Singapore courtsCrimeCriminal breach of trustInsurance
