Sunday, 20 September 2009

Ex-M1 CEO’s son fined


The son of former MobileOne chief executive was fined a total of $23,000 on Friday for theft from his boss and forgery.

1 comment:

Guanyu said...

Ex-M1 CEO’s son fined

By Elena Chong
18 September 2009

The son of former MobileOne chief executive was fined a total of $23,000 on Friday for theft from his boss and forgery.

Briton Alexander Montefiore, 28, a former sales trader of Cantor Fitzgerald, a financial services company, stole a total of $13,000 from its managing director, Mr. William Louis Selig, using his DBS debit card.

He had admitted to two charges of theft by withdrawing $2,000 each time from Mr. Selig’s DBS account on Nov 7 and 26 last year.

He also pleaded guilty to forging an employment letter issued by the company by altering his annual salary from US$45,000 to US$100,000 on Nov 14.

Five other theft charges were taken into consideration during his sentencing.

Montefiore, now unemployed, is the son of former MobileOne chief Neil Montefiore.

The court was told that Mr. Selig had entrusted his DBS ATM card and PIN number to Alexander Montefiore for making withdrawals.

On Nov 26 when Mr. Selig returned to his office and found his DBS ATM card missing from his wallet, he suspected Montefiore of taking it.

He later discovered that Montefiore had made six unauthorised withdrawals without his permission.

Lawyer Suresh Damodara submitted more than a dozen testimonials and letters attesting to his client’s good conduct to show that what he did was out of character.

Among them was from Mr. Selig, who had forgiven Montefioire, who had also paid back the money before he was charged.

Consultant psychiatrist Brian Yeo, said Montefiore was found to have a depressive disorder and was always dependent on his father. He also used to take money from his Dad when he needed it.

His wife, who was in court, broke down after District Judge Lee Poh Choo had passed sentence.

His father will take over as CEO of StarHub next January following the retirement of incumbent chief Terry Clontz.