Rogue insurance agent jailed 8 years for cheating elderly couple of millions

A former AIA insurance agent was sentenced to eight years’ jail on Thursday (May 19) for cheating an elderly couple of S$8.89 million over almost six years.

Sally Low Ai Ming, one of AIA’s top insurance agents, sold a fake policy to Mr Ong Han Ling and his wife in 2002 for several million dollars. Low, 40, then used part of the sum to purchase additional policies for Mr Ong, 78, and his wife, 77, without their knowledge or consent. She pocketed more than S$200,000 in commissions.

Low also “divvied up her lucre” by transferring US$1 million to an associate, and funnelling S$5.28 million offshore into a British Virgin Islands company owned by her. Low also used part of the sum to buy condominiums at Cairnhill and Sentosa Cove, the court heard.

District Judge Shawn Ho said Low had violated her clients’ trust – “the lifeblood of a financial advisor-client relationship”. “Simply put, (Low) exploited her expertise to take advantage of her clients’ trust, in order to reap a fortune”, said the judge.
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Low has made voluntary restitution to the couple amounting to about S$4.33 million.

Mr Ong and his wife are also in the midst of a civil suit being heard in the High Court. The couple have sued AIA for negligence and breach of duty of care, asserting the insurer’s liability for Low’s criminal actions.