Chiropractor, 2 agents charged over insurance fraud involving more than $14,000

SINGAPORE - A chiropractor was taken to court on Tuesday (Jan 22) after he allegedly worked with two insurance agents to cheat Manulife Singapore of more than $14,000 by submitting bogus personal accident claims by 12 people who were covered by the insurer.

Shareholder of Chiropractic Focus Group Charles Loo Boon Ann, 29, is accused of committing the offences with Priscilla Tien Ling, 27, and Mike Chew Jun Yong, 36.

Loo was charged with 17 counts of cheating while Tien faces 12 charges for similar offences. Chew was handed nine cheating charges.

A search on the General Insurance Association Of Singapore's website reveals that Chew is still a general and life insurance agent, currently linked to Liberty Insurance.

Information on Tien was not found on the portal.

The trio allegedly committed their offences between June 2017 and April last year and Manulife Singapore is said to have been duped into delivering the monies to the 12 insurance policy holders.

They allegedly received between $200 and $1,200 each.

Tien's cases allegedly involved nine policy holders who received more than $8,000 in all.

Five policy holders linked to Chew are said to have received about $7,000 in total.

It was not mentioned in court on Tuesday if action will be taken against the 12 policy holders.

In a statement on Monday, the police said the trio allegedly cheated the insurance firm through false personal accident claims for treatments received at Loo's clinics in Tampines and Tanjong Pagar.

The police added: "Investigations revealed that between June 2017 and March 2018, the trio were believed to have conspired with one another to instigate patients receiving treatment for pre-existing medical conditions at the chiropractor's clinics, to purchase personal accident insurance policies.

"The patients could then make false personal accident claims against the insurance policies, for injuries purportedly sustained after they bought the policies, in order to receive payout from the insurance company for their chiropractic treatment."

On Tuesday, the trio were each offered bail of $15,000 and they will be back in court on Feb 19.

For each count of cheating, offenders can be jailed for up to 10 years and fined.

This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.