Patricia Quek and Silver Huang are prohibited from providing any financial advisory services for five years. Photo: Bloomberg

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has slapped five-year prohibition orders (POs) each to Patricia Quek Puay Yi and Silver Huang Hsin Tian. Quek was a former representative of AIA while Huang was formerly with Professional Investment Advisory Services Pte Ltd.

The POs were issued following their convictions in the State Courts for cheating offences.

Both individuals were charged after Quek purchased an insurance policy from Manulife (Singapore) through Huang after the former sustained a leg injury in an accident. Once the policy came into force, the pair submitted a claim of $1,128.57 to Manulife for Quek’s leg injury, despite knowing that the accident had taken place before Quek applied for the Manulife policy. Manulife discovered the fraudulent insurance claim before any payout was made.

Quek and Huang were each convicted of one count of cheating with abetment under section 417 and section 116(1) of the Penal Code. They were sentenced to two weeks’ and one week imprisonment respectively in May 2022.

The POs, which take effect from Oct 16, means Quek and Huang are prohibited from providing any financial advisory services, and from taking part in the management, acting as a director, or becoming a substantial shareholder, of any financial advisory firm under the Financial Advisers Act 2001.

They will also not be allowed to take part in the management of any insurance intermediary under the Insurance Act 1966.

“Ms Quek and Ms Huang’s convictions have given MAS reason to believe that they have not, and will not, honestly perform the type of financial advisory service for which they were appointed,” says MAS in its Oct 16 statement.