Man jailed for taking $141k proceeds from car sale
A man who misappropriated the sales proceeds of a car belonging to his former business partner was sentenced to six months' jail on Thursday (Sept 7).
Kevin Low Jun Yan, 36, who now works as a sales consultant, pleaded guilty to misappropriating $141,249 in 2013 from the sales proceeds of an Audi A5 car.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Victoria Ting said Low started a company called Elites Credit with a business partner, Mr Teoh Teck Shin.
They were both named directors. Only Mr Teoh was listed as a shareholder as he was the only party to have invested in the company, which is now defunct.
At the time, Low was also the owner and director of Elites Premium Auto, which dealt primarily in second-hand cars.
Some time in March 2013, Mr Teoh entrusted Low with his Audi car worth $141,249. It was agreed that the car should be sold by Low through Elites Premium Auto, and that the sales proceeds should be invested into Elites Credit as Mr Teoh's capital investment.
It was also agreed that any surplus amount from the sales proceeds would be split equally between them.
On March 15, 2013, Low sold the car for $150,000, and shared the surplus of $8,751 with Mr Teoh.
But Low did not invest the principal sales proceeds in Elites Credit, and pocketed the money instead.
Mr Teoh made a police report on May 6, 2014, alleging that Low had misappropriated money from the company. On June 30 this year, Low made restitution of $90,000, which Mr Teoh agreed to treat as full settlement of the matter.
In mitigation, Low's lawyer T.M. Sinnadurai said his client was remorseful for his actions and had cooperated with the authorities throughout the investigations.
He successfully applied for Low to commence his sentence on Sept 28, so that his client could settle work-related matters.
Low could have been jailed for up to seven years and/or fined for criminal breach of trust.
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