SINGAPORE: A former sales agent of gold trading company Genneva has been sentenced to nine months' jail on Thursday (Mar 13) after she cheated a pawnshop to redeem gold that came about from a multi-million dollar investment scam.
Zhang Jinxia, 58, was convicted on Mar 6 after a trial, of one count of cheating and another under the Corruption, Drug Trafficking, and Other Serious Crimes (Confiscation of Benefits), said the police in a news release.
She is the second former Genneva sales agent to be convicted for cheating a pawnshop by falsely reporting that she had lost her pawn tickets. The first sales agent, Chen Qiaoling, was sentenced to 12 months' jail in November 2021.
Genneva was a Singapore-registered gold investment company that sold gold bars under a buyback scheme between 2008 and 2012, promising returns of up to 36 per cent over a contract period.
Subsequently, the customers were told to deposit the gold bars with the company for "inspection purposes" and were promised an equivalent quantity of gold after three working days, said the police.
According to court documents, Genneva implemented this gold inspection scheme from August 2012. If customers did not submit their gold bars for inspection, they would not be able to renew their contracts with the firm or sell the gold bars back in the future.
Between Aug 17, 2012 and Sep 30, 2012, Genneva collected nearly 3,580kg of gold.
But only about 2,940kg was returned to customers after the purported gold inspection, leaving about 640kg of outstanding gold. A portion of that was sold, pawned or used to fulfil new sales.
Genneva then ran out of gold bars to return to its customers when the collection of gold bars for the inspection exercise slowed down in September 2012, according to the police in a previous news release.
The company's head of purchasing, Choo Chee Loong, was tasked to pawn gold bars collected from customers under the inspection scheme.
Due to limits on the weight of gold that a person could pawn, Zhang agreed to help Choo to pawn 3kg of gold by falsely stating her name on the pawn tickets as the pawner.
Zhang then handed over to Choo about S$168,000 worth of loans received for the pawned gold, as well as three pawn tickets, on Aug 24, 2012.
Investigations showed that Zhang falsely reported the loss of the three pawn tickets to the pawnshop on Sep 29, 2012, even though she knew that they were not lost. On the same day, she affirmed the declaration form before a Commissioner for Oaths, the police added.
Said the police: "On Oct 1, 2012, Zhang Jinxia submitted the false declaration form to an employee of the aforesaid pawnshop and dishonestly induced the employee to deliver the 3kg of gold to her, which she had previously assisted Choo to pawn.
"On the same day, she pawned the 3kg of gold at another pawnshop for a cash loan of S$168,000. The 3kg of gold was subsequently seized by the police."
Zhang has filed an appeal against her conviction and sentence, according to the police.
For cheating, Zhang could have been fined and jailed up to 10 years.
Those found guilty under the Corruption, Drug Trafficking, and Other Serious Crimes (Confiscation of Benefits) can be fined up to S$500,000, jailed up to seven years, or both.
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Zhang Jinxia, 58, was convicted on Mar 6 after a trial, of one count of cheating and another under the Corruption, Drug Trafficking, and Other Serious Crimes (Confiscation of Benefits), said the police in a news release.
She is the second former Genneva sales agent to be convicted for cheating a pawnshop by falsely reporting that she had lost her pawn tickets. The first sales agent, Chen Qiaoling, was sentenced to 12 months' jail in November 2021.
Genneva was a Singapore-registered gold investment company that sold gold bars under a buyback scheme between 2008 and 2012, promising returns of up to 36 per cent over a contract period.
Subsequently, the customers were told to deposit the gold bars with the company for "inspection purposes" and were promised an equivalent quantity of gold after three working days, said the police.
According to court documents, Genneva implemented this gold inspection scheme from August 2012. If customers did not submit their gold bars for inspection, they would not be able to renew their contracts with the firm or sell the gold bars back in the future.
Between Aug 17, 2012 and Sep 30, 2012, Genneva collected nearly 3,580kg of gold.
But only about 2,940kg was returned to customers after the purported gold inspection, leaving about 640kg of outstanding gold. A portion of that was sold, pawned or used to fulfil new sales.
Genneva then ran out of gold bars to return to its customers when the collection of gold bars for the inspection exercise slowed down in September 2012, according to the police in a previous news release.
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The company's head of purchasing, Choo Chee Loong, was tasked to pawn gold bars collected from customers under the inspection scheme.
Due to limits on the weight of gold that a person could pawn, Zhang agreed to help Choo to pawn 3kg of gold by falsely stating her name on the pawn tickets as the pawner.
Zhang then handed over to Choo about S$168,000 worth of loans received for the pawned gold, as well as three pawn tickets, on Aug 24, 2012.
Investigations showed that Zhang falsely reported the loss of the three pawn tickets to the pawnshop on Sep 29, 2012, even though she knew that they were not lost. On the same day, she affirmed the declaration form before a Commissioner for Oaths, the police added.
Said the police: "On Oct 1, 2012, Zhang Jinxia submitted the false declaration form to an employee of the aforesaid pawnshop and dishonestly induced the employee to deliver the 3kg of gold to her, which she had previously assisted Choo to pawn.
"On the same day, she pawned the 3kg of gold at another pawnshop for a cash loan of S$168,000. The 3kg of gold was subsequently seized by the police."
Zhang has filed an appeal against her conviction and sentence, according to the police.
For cheating, Zhang could have been fined and jailed up to 10 years.
Those found guilty under the Corruption, Drug Trafficking, and Other Serious Crimes (Confiscation of Benefits) can be fined up to S$500,000, jailed up to seven years, or both.
Continue reading...