SINGAPORE — The founder of flooring company Jason Holdings was sentenced to three years’ jail on Monday (July 31) for deceiving banks into disbursing loans of slightly over S$2 million. 

Between 2012 and 2015, Jason Sim Chon Ang applied for loans from DBS, Standard Chartered Bank and Maybank using false invoices and delivery orders. 

Sim, now aged 57, had claimed trial to five charges of cheating and dishonestly inducing a delivery of property but was convicted of his charges. 

He is intending to appeal against his conviction and sentence. He remains out on S$180,000 bail.

WHAT HAPPENED 

At the time of the offences, Sim was the chief executive officer and founder of JPS — a wholly owned subsidiary of Jason Holdings.

The company supplied and installed a range of timber flooring products. 

Court documents stated that JPS had trade financing credit facilities with three banks here: DBS, Standard Chartered Bank and Maybank. 

JPS could apply for loans from the banks to pay its suppliers for purchases of goods. 

As part of each invoice financing application, the banks required JPS to submit invoices and delivery documents as evidence that goods had been bought and delivered. 

If this financing application was successful, the banks would pay the suppliers directly, prosecutors had told the court.

Between Sept 7, 2012 and March 16, 2015, Sim used fake invoices and delivery orders to deceive the banks into disbursing loans to one of his suppliers, Tati Trading. 

His alleged accomplice was Tjioe Chi Minh, the director of Tati Trading, which supplies timber.

However, Tjioe was acquitted of all five charges of cheating he faced after a trial, The Straits Times reported. The prosecution will be appealing against the acquittal, the newspaper also reported.

'MOTIVATED BY GREED'

Deputy Public Prosecutors Kelvin Yong and Tan Zhi Hao sought a sentence of between four and five years’ jail, stating that the offences were “carefully orchestrated, difficult to detect and motivated by greed”.

They added that such offences of trade financing fraud against financial institutions warrant a deterrent sentence. 

“This is because they reflect a troubling view held by Jason (Sim) – that banks and financial institutions are convenient victims, who may be defrauded into giving loans for nefarious purposes unrelated to his business, or to tide his business through cashflow problems,” they said. 

Sim's lawyer, Mr Naidu Navindraram from Dentons Rodyk & Davidson LLP, sought a sentence of not more than three months and a fine of S$100,000.

He had submitted that there was no actual harm in this case since the S$2 million or so was later repaid to the banks. 

His client also did not obtain the loan from the banks with the intention of not paying them back and there was no careful planning to defraud them, he had added.

While delivering his sentence, District Judge John Ng said that the absence of real-life losses does not mean that the banks did not suffer any harm.

“There was risk exposure that the banks did not agree to bear,” he added. 

He disagreed with the prosecution’s points that the offences were carefully orchestrated and that it was done out of greed. 

However, he noted that there was a substantial amount of money disbursed and it was committed over several years, with not one but three different banks being cheated. 

For each conviction of cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property, Sim could have been jailed for up to 10 years and fined.