SINGAPORE – A director at an insurance agency has been sentenced to 15 months in jail after misappropriating clients’ funds to support his gambling addiction. Huang Jieqi, 38, who is also a shareholder at Lele Insurance Agency, was found guilty of stealing over $40,000 from clients in 2022 and 2023.
Huang, who was entrusted with depositing payments into the agency’s corporate bank account, took advantage of his position and misappropriated at least $40,000 in June 2022. His actions came to light when fellow director Lee Choon Ban noticed a discrepancy in the account and confronted him. Huang later admitted to the theft and, between February and May 2023, returned the stolen funds, assuring he would not repeat his actions.
However, Huang broke his promise and misappropriated nearly $41,000 over 18 separate incidents between December 2023 and January 2024. He transferred the money from the agency’s corporate account into his own personal account, disguising the transactions as client payments to insurance companies by altering the names in the “remarks” section.
Despite his attempts to cover up the theft, Huang used the agency’s existing funds to pay insurance companies, causing a significant financial loss to Lele Insurance Agency. Huang and his family later made full restitution for the amount misappropriated.
Huang’s criminal actions were discovered when Lee filed a police report on December 30, 2023. He was subsequently arrested and pleaded guilty to one count of criminal breach of trust and an unrelated forgery charge.
The court heard that Huang and Lee co-founded Lele Insurance Agency in March 2022. Huang was authorized to sell insurance policies from companies such as Allianz Insurance Singapore and NTUC Income Insurance. Clients were instructed to transfer their payments to the agency’s corporate account, from which Huang would manage the payments to the insurance companies.
The forgery charge against Huang stemmed from an unrelated incident in April 2024, when he forged insurance cover notes for a company named Savesteel. Huang had been approached to arrange insurance for ship cargo but, after receiving a premium payment of nearly $6,000, forged the cover notes using outdated documents from EQ Insurance. He issued the false documents to Savesteel, knowing the policies were not legitimate. The forgery was discovered when Savesteel made inquiries with EQ Insurance, leading to Huang’s arrest.
Huang has not made restitution for the nearly $6,000 loss incurred by Savesteel.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Natalie Chu noted that Huang’s actions had caused significant harm to both Lele Insurance Agency and its clients. Huang’s sentence serves as a warning against the abuse of trust in professional settings.
Related topics
