Former insurance agent jailed 30 weeks for defrauding HK$750,000 in commission

A former insurance agent charged by the ICAC was jailed for 30 weeks on Tuesday for defrauding an insurer about HK$750,000 in commission by making false representations about the occupations and monthly incomes of the applicants in five insurance policy applications. 

Thirty-year-old Chow Tsz-sin, formerly known as Zhou Chuqian, was an insurance agent at Sun Life Hong Kong Ltd. She was earlier found guilty of four counts of agent using document with intent to deceive her principal and a count of fraud. 

Passing down the sentence at the Kowloon City Court, magistrate Kestrel Lam Tsz-hong remarked that Chow’s behavior obviously constituted a breach of trust and it was the only option for the court to mete out a custodial sentence. 

Chow was granted bail by Lam, pending her appeal. 

The court heard that between August 2016 and July 2018, Chow, with intent to mislead Sun Life, made false representations in four insurance policy applications about the occupations and monthly incomes of the applicants. 

She also falsely represented that she was the handling agent of another insurance policy. 

Believing the information provided for the five insurance policies was genuine, Sun Life approved those applications and paid commissions totaling about HK$750,000 to Chow and her up-line manager. 

The ICAC investigation arose from a corruption complaint and investigation revealed that Chow had paid part of the premiums for the policies. The insurance policies concerned eventually lapsed after subsequent premiums were not paid. 

The ICAC thanked Sun Life for rendering full assistance during investigation into the case.