{
  "id": 13256836,
  "title": "SPF: 2 women jailed for using 69-year-old woman as director of 108 companies linked to scam funds",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/09/spf-2-women-jailed-for-using-69-year-old-woman-as-director-of-108",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-10-09T22:30:20.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Independent Singapore",
    "slug": "the-independent-singapore",
    "url": "https://theindependent.sg/spf-2-women-jailed-for-using-69-year-old-woman-as-director-of-108-companies-linked-to-scam-funds"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Two women from a Singapore corporate service provider have been sentenced to imprisonment for using a 69-year-old woman as a nominee director for 108 companies, keeping her unaware of the businesses she was supposed to oversee. Chen Lu, director of Union International Consultancy Pte Ltd, received three months and three weeks in prison, while Li Xuan, a UIC employee, was given two months. Both were convicted for aiding a nominee director in contravening Section 157(1) of the Companies Act and were barred from serving as directors for five years. The scheme involved Chen and Li recruiting Chen's mother-in-law, who was 69 at the time, as a nominee director to meet Singapore's regulatory requirement for locally resident directors in companies set up for foreign clients in August and October 2020. UIC incorporated 108 companies for mainly Chinese clients that year. Chen and Li deceived the nominee director, ensuring she was uninformed about the companies and their clients. Two of the 108 companies received around US$540,000 from business email compromise scams where fraudsters impersonate company executives to authorize wire transfers into fraudulent accounts. Chen also conspired with Li to pervert justice by trying to make the nominee director falsely claim knowledge of the companies' affairs. This was considered in sentencing. The case warns corporate service providers and their employees about the serious consequences of their actions, and it serves as a caution for those who agree to serve as nominee directors, as they bear personal legal responsibility for the companies they oversee.",
  "summary": "SINGAPORE: Two women from a Singapore corporate service provider have been sentenced to imprisonment after recruiting a 69-year-old Singaporean woman as a nominee director for 108 companies, keeping her entirely uninformed about the businesses she was supposedly overseeing. Two of which received approximately US$540,000 (S$690,000) in funds from business email compromise scams. Chen Lu, director…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}