Singapore— An Indian-origin wealth planning manager has been sentenced to seven weeks in jail in Singapore for forging clients’ bank statements to ensure insurance policies he sold could be approved.
The accused, Vijendren Tanapal (38), pleaded guilty to two counts of forgery involving Japanese clients while working at DBS Bank. Several additional similar offences tied to other clients were also taken into consideration during sentencing.
According to court proceedings, Tanapal committed the offences in 2017 in a bid to meet sales targets. He falsified bank statements of clients to facilitate the approval of insurance policies offered through Manulife.
The case came to light in January 2022 when DBS alerted authorities after discovering multiple forged documents linked to six Japanese clients. He was formally charged in 2026.
Prosecutors told the court that there was no direct monetary loss to the bank arising from these transactions. Tanapal, who is no longer employed with DBS Bank, has been granted bail of SGD 15,000 and is scheduled to begin serving his sentence from July 31.
