Asia Pacific Breweries, the manufacturer of Tiger beer, is suspending one of its finance managers and calling in the Commercial Affairs Department (CAD) amid suspicions of forgery, MCN International Pte Ltd reported on September 4. According to Asia Pacific Breweries, suspended finance manager Chia Teck Leng was charged in court on September 4 for a multi-million dollar fraud. He is suspected of opening and operating bank accounts under the Asia Pacific Breweries name. Local press reports suggested the alleged fraud may have amounted to S$90m (US$51.43m). The company said the matter was being investigated by the CAD. The company has frozen the unauthorised accounts and appointed a special audit committee, plus accounting firm Pricewaterhouse Coopers and law firm Drew & Napier to look into the matter.

Three years ago, an SIA cabin crew supervisor was convicted and put in jail for siphoning $35 million into various personal accounts over 13 years. And in July this year, SembCorp Logistics said staff at its Indian unit had created bogus revenues, inflating earnings by over $15 million over a three-year period.
Asia Pacific Breweries could be the latest in a string of Singapore firms to fall victim to financial fiddling by their own staff.

09 September, 2003