[vc_row full_width=”” parallax=”” parallax_image=””][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_custom_heading text=”Reviewed by Bernard Sim” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” google_fonts=”font_family:Abril%20Fatface%3Aregular|font_style:400%20regular%3A400%3Anormal”][vc_column_text]Description:
The title says it all, this is a book on how cheaters cheat , how scammers scam and how a fraud got into frauds in Singapore. There are many interesting scams that you will never think it will happen in Singapore and the amount involved is enormous.
Contents:
This book is divided into 9 chapters.
- The man who brought down a bank –
The famous story about how Nick Leeson brought the Barings Bank by his reckless way of trading stock derivatives. - The taxman’s revenge –
Notable cases of how businesses try to cheat the government by falsifying GST claims. - Charity under fire –
The infamous TT Dural’s downfall from NKF all because a gold plated tap. I’m sure many people would know this story and is also happy that he was brought to justice. - Cheats get caught –
- A few very short stories on how lawyer absconded with client’s money, how a bank staff duped a bank customer , modus operandi of an online scammer.
- Brewery Scandal –
How an Asia Pacific Brewery employee pocketed $100 million of the company’s fund. - Stealing on the job –
How M1 employee stole over 3000 mobile phones worth more than $2 million dollars. - Civil servants gone wild –
How 2 employees of Singapore Land Authority cheated the government of $11.8 million. - Dead man walking –
A man pretending to be dead so as to claim an insurance payout. - Lawyer on the loose –
Another story of a lawyer running off with a client’s money.
My view:
What attracts me to read this book was the title. You’d know you will be reading about white collar crimes in Singapore. That much is true, however, this book is not covered in great details but that’s expected as you can’t possibly write so many stories in detail on a 172 pages book
Some of the stories are a bit more detailed like the Nick Leeson case and the APB case whereas the rest are just the important points of the case. Most Singaporeans who follows current affairs will more or less know most of the stories in this book. However, by reading this book, it will not make you understand more. Somehow, I feel that the writer did not have firsthand knowledge of the happenings. I felt that the stories were put together by gathering it from different sources.
On Nick Leeson’s chapter, I was expecting a lot more as it was the first chapter of the book and I was also on the same trading floor as Nick Leeson at that time. Everyone knows that this guy is not a pleasant guy and the things he does to humiliate a peer is beyond what a human being would do. Back to this chapter, you will find all the details of this case but the writing style is not like fiction, you won’t feel the excitement of how he fought with Nikkei futures, Japanese Government Bond options and how he was brought down by the Kobe earthquake. But you will get to know the essentials of this case.
As for the rest of the stories, they are like summaries of their case and somehow, I felt like I was reading the newspaper (for some of the chapters).
Verdict :
So, who should read this book? Scammers, cheats wannabe, learn their style so as not to repeat their mistakes….hehe just kidding. Anyone who is kaypoh enough (like me) should read this book. It was interesting to know such things can happen in Singapore though I wish that the book was written in a more interesting way to create excitement.
I felt that some of the chapters’ ending can be quite abrupt. Perhaps I have a higher expectation of this book; perhaps I know more details of some of the stories which hindered my reading enjoyment of this book. This book is easy to read and I think most people will be intrigued by different frauds, and scams.[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css_animation=””][/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_gallery type=”nivo” interval=”3″ images=”92″ onclick=”link_image” custom_links_target=”_self”][vc_widget_sidebar sidebar_id=”gp-standard-sidebar”][/vc_column][/vc_row]
