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SINGAPORE : Three former top executives of Accord Customer Care Solutions were charged in court on Friday with cheating.
Ex-CEO Victor Tan, who founded the company, faces 44 counts for allegedly engaging in a conspiracy to cheat Nokia of S$4.3 million.
Former chief financial officer Yip Hwai Chong and ex-general manager Ang Tse Aun Damien were each charged with 43 counts of cheating.
All three men are out on bail of S$400,000 each.
They are alleged to have issued fictitious warranty claims and invoices of Nokia mobile phones.
The three were among a total of 12 persons charged on Friday in relation to the ACCS case.
The other nine were not with the company, but were said to be part of the conspiracy.
Most of them were centre managers of the Nokia Care Centre at various outlets in Singapore.
Said lawyer Philip Fong, a partner at Harry Elias Partnership, "I act for one of the accused persons in the ACCS case. The prosecution said to the court that they were not ready. I'm not sure what that actually means; probably more people may be charged or more charges may be preferred."
A pre-trial conference has been set for October 3.
The scandal at ACCS started unfolding in February this year when it announced that it had lost a major mobile phone repair and servicing contract for Nokia.
Soon after that, ACCS revealed that it was being investigated by the Commercial Affairs Department.
No details were given then, but ACCS has since admitted to overstating its earnings, exaggerating its profit by over S$100 million in the last two years.
It was forced to restate its accounts for fiscal 2003 and 2004.
Victor Tan resigned from ACCS in May.
The company took on Philip Eng as chairman in June to help turn its fortunes around.
ACCS has been looking for new investors.
In March, SingPost announced plans to buy up to a 29.9 percent stake in ACCS but was later forced to cancel those plans amid investor concerns.
Earlier this week ACCS booked a loss of S$7.1 million for the half year to June, and said it expected to incur a loss for the full year. - CNA /ct
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