Six former insurance agents charged by ICAC with conspiracy to defraud over $950,000 commissions and bonuses
2021-12-22
Six former insurance agents were charged by the ICAC today (December 22) with conspiracy to defraud an insurance company into paying commissions and bonuses totalling about $950,000 to four of them by making false representations about the handling agents of 10 policies.
The ICAC investigation arose from a corruption complaint. Upon completion of the investigation, the ICAC sought legal advice from the Department of Justice, which advised charging six former employees of AXA China Region Insurance Company Limited (AXA) with one count of conspiracy to defraud, contrary to Common Law.
The defendants are Chan Ka-wo, 36, former branch manager of AXA; Tsang Tsz-long, 28, former unit manager of AXA; and Lam Tsz-him, 32; Jamme Kan Ka-lok, 27; Lee But-kau, 31; and Wong Yuen-ting, 25; all former insurance agents of AXA.
They were released on ICAC bail, pending their appearance in the Eastern Magistrates’ Courts next Tuesday (December 28) for the case to be transferred to the District Court for plea.
At the material time, Chan was the up-line manager of other co-defendants. In the course of selling an insurance product of AXA, a handling agent was required to declare that he or she had asked the applicant the questions on the policy application form, verified the identity of the applicant and witnessed the applicant’s signature on the policy application form.
Whenever an insurance product was successfully sold, the handling agents and his or her up-line manager would respectively receive commissions and overriding commissions from AXA. They were also entitled to various kinds of bonuses.
The charge alleges that between November 25, 2014 and September 28, 2017, all of the six defendants conspired together to defraud AXA by dishonestly falsely representing that the handling agent’s declarations in policy application forms were genuinely made, thereby inducing AXA to approve the policy applications and to pay commissions and bonuses to four of the defendants in connection with the policies.
ICAC enquiries revealed that the scam involved 10 policies in which Lam, Kan and Tsang were falsely represented as the handling agents. The trio and their up-line manager Chan received from AXA commissions totalling over $450,000 and bonuses totalling about $500,000 in connection with those policies.
AXA has rendered full assistance to the ICAC during its investigation into the case.
The ICAC investigation arose from a corruption complaint. Upon completion of the investigation, the ICAC sought legal advice from the Department of Justice, which advised charging six former employees of AXA China Region Insurance Company Limited (AXA) with one count of conspiracy to defraud, contrary to Common Law.
The defendants are Chan Ka-wo, 36, former branch manager of AXA; Tsang Tsz-long, 28, former unit manager of AXA; and Lam Tsz-him, 32; Jamme Kan Ka-lok, 27; Lee But-kau, 31; and Wong Yuen-ting, 25; all former insurance agents of AXA.
They were released on ICAC bail, pending their appearance in the Eastern Magistrates’ Courts next Tuesday (December 28) for the case to be transferred to the District Court for plea.
At the material time, Chan was the up-line manager of other co-defendants. In the course of selling an insurance product of AXA, a handling agent was required to declare that he or she had asked the applicant the questions on the policy application form, verified the identity of the applicant and witnessed the applicant’s signature on the policy application form.
Whenever an insurance product was successfully sold, the handling agents and his or her up-line manager would respectively receive commissions and overriding commissions from AXA. They were also entitled to various kinds of bonuses.
The charge alleges that between November 25, 2014 and September 28, 2017, all of the six defendants conspired together to defraud AXA by dishonestly falsely representing that the handling agent’s declarations in policy application forms were genuinely made, thereby inducing AXA to approve the policy applications and to pay commissions and bonuses to four of the defendants in connection with the policies.
ICAC enquiries revealed that the scam involved 10 policies in which Lam, Kan and Tsang were falsely represented as the handling agents. The trio and their up-line manager Chan received from AXA commissions totalling over $450,000 and bonuses totalling about $500,000 in connection with those policies.
AXA has rendered full assistance to the ICAC during its investigation into the case.