Frequently Asked Questions
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QUESTION:
Can anyone update me on the Citibank Data Theft case in Singapore ? What is the outcome of the case ?
Jan 24, 2008
Ex-Citi staff charged with unauthorised access to info
They are accused of taking clients' information before leaving to join rival UBS
By Selina Lum
SEVEN former employees of Citibank were hauled to court yesterday and charged with taking their clients information before leaving to join rival UBS.
The bulk of the 1,223 charges laid against the bankers are under the Computer Misuse Act (CMA) for unauthorised access to data held in Citibank's computer servers.The seven, who handle accounts of wealthy clients, are said to have acted in three separate groups.
Prosecutors allege that after accessing the bank's computers without authority, some sent the data, in the form of spreadsheets, to their personal e-mail addresses.
Others are accused of printing out the information.
The charges date to between February and July 2006.
The accused include relationship managers Low Siok Liang, 33; Wendy Quek Lien Lien, 30; Jelene Lee Kit Peng, 34; Esther Lim Siew May, 31; and Lydia Koh Meng Yang, 28.
Also in the dock were bank manager Jonathan Seah Thiam Heng, 44, and service relationship manager Valarie Lim Ming Huey, 29, who is Low's assistant.
Low faces the most charges - 262 counts under the CMA, one count under the Penal Code for destroying evidence, and one count under the Banking Act for disclosing customer information.
Valarie Lim faces 260 charges under the CMA and one charge of destroying evidence.
Seah faces 80 charges under the CMA, Lee 239, and Esther Lim and Koh 188 each. Quek faces three charges, including one under the Banking Act.
This is believed to be the first time that such offences involving a bank have come before the courts.
It is also understood to be the first prosecution under the Banking Act for disclosing customer information.
Yesterday's court appearance for the seven, who are represented by different lawyers, followed investigations by the Commercial Affairs Department that lasted more than a year, the court heard.
Separately, Citibank took civil action against all except Quek.
The lawsuit was settled out of court for an undisclosed sum. During arguments over bail, some of their lawyers said the settlement had hurt their clients financially.
Some lawyers also noted that the number of charges seemed great, but many are linked to a single e-mail that contained a raft of personal data.
District Judge John Ng granted the seven bail of between ,000 and ,000 each.
The case is fixed for a pre-trial conference on Feb 25.
The maximum punishment for unauthorised access under the CMA is a 0,000 fine and 20 years in jail.
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ANSWER:
no idea. But I know that 2 of the bankers seems like have changed their name/ I used to be with citibank / and also wondering if Rosalind Lee has changed her name to Jelene Lee ?? Does anyone know ????Read this article
Friday September 22, 8:57 PM
Citibank says bankers poached S mln in business
SINGAPORE, Sept 22 (Reuters) - Citibank , which is suing six former employees in Singapore, said three of them had taken S million ( million) of its private banking business when they defected to rival UBS , court documents show.
Citibank has filed lawsuits in Singapore's High Court against six former bankers who dealt with wealthy clients, saying some of them had urged clients to jump ship when they moved to UBS.It said the former bankers had sent client details to their personal e-mail accounts before they quit to join UBS, adding that the U.S. bank had lost about S million in client funds.
In affidavits, those bankers who have so far filed a defence either denied soliciting banking business from Citibank customers, or said information was sent to their personal e-mail addresses so they could work from home.
Disputes of this sort are rare in the genteel world of private banking.
But Citibank's action against former employees reflects intense competition for a small pool of qualified bankers as Singapore's fast-growing wealth management sector caters to an increasing number of rich Chinese, Indians and other Asians. ADVERTISEMENT
"In the financial services sector, private banking has been one of the fastest growing areas for Singapore, creating opportunities for these institutions," said Song Seng Wun, an economist at CIMB-GK Research.
"It's extremely competitive, so it's in their interest to protect their employees and clients from being poached," he said.
SOLICITING BUSINESS
Citibank is taking legal action to restrain several of its former employees from disseminating client information and from poaching its customers and employees.
It also wants the bankers to surrender all hardware and documents containing client information and is seeking damages.
"The privacy of customer, proprietary or confidential information is one of our highest priorities. We will always act to protect the privacy of such information," a Citibank spokesman said, repeating an earlier statement.
A UBS official said the bankers concerned were either on leave or had not yet started at the bank. The bankers named by Citibank could not be reached for comment.
Court documents show that Citibank is suing Carel Low, a former personal banker at Citibank who quit in May to join rival UBS, and her former assistant, Valarie Lim.
It is also suing three former relationship managers -- Elaine Tan, Rosalind Lee, and Esther Lim -- as well as a former branch manager, Jonathan Seah.
(For a story on the lawsuits involving Esther Lim and Jonathan Seah, click on the code in brackets: [ID:nSIN262640]. This link may not be accessible for some subscribers.)
TRANSFERRED ACCOUNTS
Citibank said in a writ of summons filed on July 21 that Low solicited 11 of its customers, of whom six -- with assets under management totalling more than S million -- have already transferred their accounts to UBS.
It said Low made use of the bank's confidential customer information for the purpose of UBS's business and that Low had solicited Citibank's customers and persuaded them to transfer their investments and transactions to UBS.
All of Low's clients who defected to UBS had listed Low as their new personal banker in the transfer forms, along with her new contact number at UBS, Citibank said in the court documents.
In an affidavit, Low denied that she had solicited Citibank's customers and employees, and said she had not deliberately forwarded e-mails with confidential client information to her personal e-mail account.
"My intention at material time was to forward to my personal e-mail account documents which were purely of a personal nature for my retention, i.e. personal e-mails from friends, photographs etc," Low said, according to the court documents.
She added that she was not in possession of the confidential information because her Web-based mail account, which filtered larger e-mails into a bulk mail folder, had automatically deleted the messages after a certain period without access.
Citibank said Tan, who left the bank in February, had sent information about clients, including their investments and contact details, to her personal e-mail account just 10 days before her resignation.
It also said that Tan had solicited 14 of Citibank's customers with total investments amounting to more than S million. All of them have transferred their accounts to UBS, Citibank said. Tan has not yet filed her defence.
Citibank said that Lee had sent confidential documents to her personal e-mail four days before she resigned, and solicited six of its customers -- with assets amounting to more than S million -- all of whom have transferred to UBS, according to court documents. Lee has not yet filed her defence.
Low's assistant Valarie Lim denied soliciting Citibank's customers and said she had sent information to her personal e-mail with the implied or expressed consent of the clients.
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QUESTION:
Can anyone update me on the Citibank Data Theft case in Singapore ? What is the outcome of the case ?
Jan 24, 2008
Ex-Citi staff charged with unauthorised access to info
They are accused of taking clients' information before leaving to join rival UBS
By Selina Lum
SEVEN former employees of Citibank were hauled to court yesterday and charged with taking their clients information before leaving to join rival UBS.
The bulk of the 1,223 charges laid against the bankers are under the Computer Misuse Act (CMA) for unauthorised access to data held in Citibank's computer servers.The seven, who handle accounts of wealthy clients, are said to have acted in three separate groups.
Prosecutors allege that after accessing the bank's computers without authority, some sent the data, in the form of spreadsheets, to their personal e-mail addresses.
Others are accused of printing out the information.
The charges date to between February and July 2006.
The accused include relationship managers Low Siok Liang, 33; Wendy Quek Lien Lien, 30; Jelene Lee Kit Peng, 34; Esther Lim Siew May, 31; and Lydia Koh Meng Yang, 28.
Also in the dock were bank manager Jonathan Seah Thiam Heng, 44, and service relationship manager Valarie Lim Ming Huey, 29, who is Low's assistant.
Low faces the most charges - 262 counts under the CMA, one count under the Penal Code for destroying evidence, and one count under the Banking Act for disclosing customer information.
Valarie Lim faces 260 charges under the CMA and one charge of destroying evidence.
Seah faces 80 charges under the CMA, Lee 239, and Esther Lim and Koh 188 each. Quek faces three charges, including one under the Banking Act.
This is believed to be the first time that such offences involving a bank have come before the courts.
It is also understood to be the first prosecution under the Banking Act for disclosing customer information.
Yesterday's court appearance for the seven, who are represented by different lawyers, followed investigations by the Commercial Affairs Department that lasted more than a year, the court heard.
Separately, Citibank took civil action against all except Quek.
The lawsuit was settled out of court for an undisclosed sum. During arguments over bail, some of their lawyers said the settlement had hurt their clients financially.
Some lawyers also noted that the number of charges seemed great, but many are linked to a single e-mail that contained a raft of personal data.
District Judge John Ng granted the seven bail of between ,000 and ,000 each.
The case is fixed for a pre-trial conference on Feb 25.
The maximum punishment for unauthorised access under the CMA is a 0,000 fine and 20 years in jail.
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ANSWER:
I have no news. But I also asked the questions before about this case as I think only 3 of the bankers are now still employed in UBS, however, 2 of them seems to have changed their name. I know one Rosalind Lee Mei Lin - who is still with UBS but I think she has now changed her name to Jelene Lee Kit Peng.. Does anybody know if this is true ? If you do please update.
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QUESTION:
Recently that a law has come out about the wireless router.?
Example:My friends has been acessing through internet through a wireless network linksys as they do not know that it is illegal and thought it was free as it do not have any code in it and open for use.
But after Singapore laws have come out that it is illegal to use others people network, then my friends, all had obey the laws and stop using it. Will they still be caught. Link_sys belong to who?
As it does not have a owner name??? Can someone help with the Knowledge of Singapore laws?-
ANSWER:
The Computer Misuse Act, Cap 50A, is very clear that if one uses another person's computer service (in this case, someone's broadband connection) without permission, he has committed an offence.I am unsure of the Act's legislation history but the law was around since 1993. From your post, I would assume that your friends made use of the other party's router fairly recently. As such, if they are caught, they can be prosecuted.
Arguing that the router is unsecured and/or does not have a unique SSID is futile; it is common sense that the router has to belong to somebody and if you are not in a free wireless zone e.g. McDonald's, then one should know that any access would probably be going through a privately owned network.
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