A former agent of pan-Asian life insurance company AIA pleaded guilty for the second time on Thursday to defrauding an elderly couple of more than $5m after withdrawing her earlier plea.Sally Low Ai Ming sold a fake insurance product, called the AIA Thank You policy, to Ong Han Ling and his wife in 2002. Low then used part of the money to buy insurance policies for the couple without their knowledge or consent.
Second guilty plea
She pleaded guilty on Thursday to five of the 21 charges, specifically three counts of cheating, one count of using a forged document, and one count of removing more than S$5m from Singapore’s jurisdiction.
In a long running and complex trial, Low also faces charges for attempting suicide in 2012 and stealing gooseberries. Low previously pleaded guilty in December 2013 but retracted her plea six months later. If convicted she could be jailed up to seven years and fined.
Low had admitted herself to the Institute of Mental Health for assessment but was certified fit to stand trial. During the protracted legal battle, Low’s legal team has changed six times, with her fifth set of lawyers stepping aside at the end of April 2016.
Low is understood have been made bankrupt by the proceedings.
In January 2005, Low claimed that due to a computer glitch, Ong’s name had been mistakenly used to purchase a policy valued at S$5m. She informed her client that this policy had since generated revenue of almost S$888,000.
Low told Ong that if he paid AIA the sum of S$5m, he could keep the profit. Ong duly issued a cheque for S$5m to Low. She then moved the money to Hong Kong, transferring the sum into an American Express account under the name of a company registered in the British Virgin Islands, which was later found to be owned by Low.
In September 2006, Low again defrauded Ong and his wife saying that there had been another glitch in AIA’s computer systems, this time getting the couple to hand over $1m.
No such policy
The court heard that the deception came to light around 2008, at the time of maturity of the fake 2002 policy, when Ong contacted AIA directly to enquire about reinvesting its returns.
AIA informed him no such policy existed.
Tangled web
Mr and Mrs Ong are in the process of suing AIA for negligence and lack of care. They claim that AIA and its subsidiary Motion Insurance Agency, for whom Low worked, failed to identify numerous irregularities in their application process.
However, AIA has alleged that the couple are part of a conspiracy with Low to defraud AIA. It is understood that AIA has asked Low to be a witness in the company’s defence.
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