COO of mobile phone company misappropriated S$2.5 million worth of company assets, gets jail
The chief operating officer of MDR Limited took the devices to fund his gambling addiction and asked the CEO for a loan when he ran out of assets to draw on.
A view of the State Courts building in Singapore. (File photo: CNA/Koh Wan Ting)
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SINGAPORE: The chief operating officer of a listed company who misappropriated its assets was sentenced on Tuesday (Jan 6) to five-and-a-half years' jail.
Richard Siua Cheng Foo pleaded guilty to one count of criminal breach of trust as a key executive of the company, which dealt with mobile phones and accessories. Another four charges were taken into consideration.
He had ordered employees to draw down from marketing funds and deliver mobile devices to him, which he sold for his own profit.
In total, across all charges, the 54-year-old Singaporean misappropriated company assets amounting to more than S$2.5 million (US$1.95 million) over about a year.
THE CASE
The court heard that Siua was the COO of MDR Limited, a company listed on the mainboard of the Singapore Exchange.
He was concurrently the chief executive officer and registered director of several of MDR's subsidiaries. The group of companies distributed and sold mobile handsets and accessories.
From November 2020, Siua began misappropriating phones and selling them for money as he had become addicted to gambling.
He also realised that his employees did not monitor his use of the phones or question his instructions as they trusted him.
Between 2020 and 2021, he pocketed a total of 4,057 units of company assets valued at about S$2.5 million.
He would direct employees to withdraw mobile devices by drawing down from marketing funds that were meant to support marketing campaigns.
As CEO of the subsidiaries, Siua had full authority on how such funds would be used to further business.
He also directed employees to withdraw mobile devices or accessories that were stocked in the company warehouse and that were meant for promotional activities.
When the staff members complied, Siua would sell the items for personal profit with the help of a friend who was a director of another mobile phone business.
His friend took a cut of the sale proceeds as his own profit, which he used to offset loans that Siua owed him.
DISCOVERY
In December 2021, after Siua had used up almost all of the company funds at his disposal, he approached the CEO of MDR for a company loan.
Suspecting that Siua was having financial troubles, the CEO asked the finance department to check on Siua's use of the group finances under his control.
The finance department discovered a sharp spike in the group's marketing expenditure for 2021 compared with previous years.
They also found that Siua had requested a large quantity of mobile devices to be released.
The CEO confronted Siua at a board meeting and he admitted to his crimes.
The CEO made a police report, and Siua surrendered to the police. None of the misappropriated devices were recovered, and Siua did not make any restitution.
The prosecution sought five-and-a-half to six years' jail for Siua, noting the value of goods taken, the persistence of his offending conduct and the trust he exploited.
Siua's lawyer said his client had served the company for 20 years and "it's very unfortunate that after 20 years, he fell into the gambling addiction that led ultimately to him committing the offences".
He said Siua admitted to them immediately and cooperated "wholeheartedly" with the authorities. He is now an undischarged bankrupt.
For criminal breach of trust as a key executive of the company, Siua could have been jailed for up to 20 years and fined. As the charge was amalgamated and involved multiple instances, he could have been given up to double the punishment.
