Chia Teck Leng (谢德龙 Xìe Délóng; born 11 October 1959) is a convicted white-collar criminal from Singapore, who was known for his four-year commercial fraud which involved the swindling of $117 million from four foreign major banks to feed his gambling addiction during his time as a financial manager at Asia Pacific Breweries (APB).

[2] Chia Teck Leng was arrested on 2 September 2003 when the Commercial Affairs Department (CAD) somehow got wind of his fraudulent activities, and he thus faced a possible life sentence when there were 46 fraud-related criminal charges brought against him.

He went on to take several high-flying positions, including the vice president at UOB, and a financial controller at marine services company Swire Pacific Offshore.

Chia gradually became heavily addicted to gambling, which led to him suffering from huge debts during 1995 to 1996 and owed several banks about $100,000 in the form of overdrafts and credit card dues.

It was only in 1997 when Chia went to visit Star Cruise ships almost every fortnight for gambling sessions, he began to rake in winnings that were worth fortunes, and he received a credit offer of $75,000.

Chia’s debts were mounted sky-high when he joined Asia Pacific Breweries (APB) as its financial manager on 20 January 1999.

There was once in November 1999, when Chia withdrew $53 million from an APB account with OCBC, he was able to replace the entire amount by October 2002, thus narrowly escaping detection.

[12] In April 2002, aboard a casino cruise ship, Chia first met 22-year-old Chinese national Li Jin, who would later become his mistress.

As a result of his gambling feats, Chia spent lavishly on shopping, and his purchases included a $150,000 Mercedes-Benz and a $530,000 apartment in Grange Road.

Chia even staked out $10,000 to procure a fake Taiwanese passport on behalf of Li, which made it easier for her to enter and leave Singapore.

[15] Upon his arrest, Chia was charged two days later on 4 September 2003, of two counts, one of cheating and one of forgery involving $3 million, which he swindled from SEB in February 1999.

He was accused of earlier cheating the four banks - SMBC, Mizuho, HVB and SEB - into giving him a total credit of about $113 million.

[23][24] On 2 April 2004, Chia Teck Leng stood trial in the High Court of Singapore for the various financial crimes he committed.

The sole prosecutor-in-charge, Thong Chee Kun, decided to proceed with 14 charges out of 46, with the remaining to be taken into consideration during sentencing.

The premeditation and planning behind Chia’s offences were also aggravating and they amounted to an abuse of the trust placed on him by his employers and banks, as well as damaging Singapore's reputation as a honest and efficient financial hub.

Even if Chia was a first-offender and had pleaded guilty, the highly aggravating nature of his crimes and abundance of evidence had diminished the mitigating factors of his case, hence a long custodial sentence is necessary.

They raised the testimonies of people who knew Chia to substantiate his good character and his contribution to charity over the years leading up to his capture: even Chia’s two sons submitted a touching personal letter to the judge asking him to give their father a lenient sentence as they considered him a good, caring and loving father and husband.

The banks should also have adopted more stringent measures to avoid themselves being swindled and these were necessary to maintain Singapore’s reputation as a honest and efficient financial hub, rather than imposing a harsh sentence to deter like-minded offenders.

Finally, Pereira also argued that life imprisonment is not necessary as Chia did not siphon off any money to secret accounts and therefore would not have any opportunity of enjoying the fruits of his illegal acts upon his release from prison.

[28][29] On the same day Chia was convicted, High Court judge Tay Yong Kwang was ready with his sentencing verdict.

Justice Tay also stated that Chia’s actions have also caused damage to Singapore’s reputation as a transparent financial hub.

These crimes had caused blows at the heart of banking and commerce, and may erode the open halls of trust and erect the high walls of suspicion.