She sold 'phantom' Keppel Club memberships to over 1,300 people
She was the membership supervisor of Keppel Club, but over 10 years, Irene Setho Oi Lin, 69, allegedly sold fraudulent memberships to 1,341 buyers.
Setho, who turned up in court in a wheelchair yesterday, had purportedly deceived buyers into believing they were purchasing club memberships.
They then made payments to money mules who channelled the money to her.
The senior executive had also allegedly abetted her colleagues to make fraudulent entries in the club's membership system to create phantom memberships.
Yesterday, 60 out of 3,181 charges were tendered against Setho.
There were 20 charges each for cheating, falsification of records and receiving the benefits of criminal conduct, and the sum involved in the charges amount to $393,800.
Court documents for the charges tendered said Setho would allegedly deceive buyers into thinking they were purchasing memberships from existing members and they would draw cheques ranging from $14,500 to $32,000.
She would purportedly abet two colleaguesto make false entries in the club's membership database.
The buyers' names would be entered into the records without corresponding records of transfer of membership from existing members.
It was alleged that money mules would pass the money to Setho in cash.
SACKED
Deputy Public Prosecutor Kenneth Chin asked for four weeks' adjournment to tender the remaining charges before the next mention on Dec 6.
Setho is out on bail of $300,000.
Setho, who started working at the club as a clerk in 1966, was sacked following the discovery of the supposed membership fraud two years ago.
Keppel is also suing Setho, four others, and two firms to account for the losses, estimated to be $37.3 million. The civil suit is due to start in the High Court in July.
Among those being sued are Setho's husband Laurence Ng and her younger brother Philip Setho Wai Meng.
Setho has filed a counterclaim against the club for wrongful dismissal and lost wages.
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