An Indian national has been accused of using a fugitive lawyer’s name in Singapore to cheat two insurance companies into disbursing nearly S$77,000 in settlement sums linked to two foreign workers’ injury claims.
Saha Ranjit Chandra, 48, was charged in a district court on Tuesday for allegedly deceiving the companies into believing that they were negotiating with an authorised person from Whitefield Law Corp under the Legal Profession Act, The Strait Times reported, citing police.
A director at multiple firms, including Ranjit Investment Holdings and RS Global Immigration Consultancy, Chandra was handed five charges, including two counts of cheating.
He is said to have corresponded with the insurers in 2020 and 2021 in the name of lawyer Charles Yeo Yao Hui.
Hui was a director of Whitefield Law Corp at the time, according to court documents, and had an arrest warrant issued on him in August 2022, following which he absconded with criminal charges pending against him.
A search with the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA) found that Hui is no longer a shareholder and director at Whitefield Law Corp.
However, he is a director and shareholder of Charles Yeo Law Practice, where Chandra used to be a director and shareholder until 2020.
Between July 29 and November 30, 2020, Chandra allegedly cheated Great Eastern Life Assurance by using Hui’s name to negotiate for the workplace injury claim of a foreign worker named Manbir Singh.
After that, Great Eastern Life Assurance allegedly released the worker’s settlement sum of SGD35,000 to Whitefield Law Corp.
Chandra is also accused of cheating China Taiping Insurance (Singapore) by using Hui’s name, between January 5 and February 22, 2021.
The insurer released a settlement sum of nearly S$42,000 over the workplace injury claim of one Sikder Md Shalim.
From this amount, nearly S$32,600 was allegedly released to Whitefield Law Corp, while more than S$9,200 was said to be released to a company called Joseph Chen & Co.
Separately, Chandra is also accused of giving false information to a public servant, the Registrar of Regulated Dealers of the Ministry of Law, on January 15, 2022, The Straits Times reported.
His case has been adjourned to October 3.
For each count of cheating in Singapore, an offender can be jailed for up to 10 years and fined.