Debt collection firm founder who pocketed cash, currency notes worth over $1m gets 81 months’ jail

SINGAPORE – The founder of three debt collection companies ended up pocketing nearly $976,000 in total from two of the firms on more than 90 occasions.

Separately, Farm Boon Tet, 37, also misappropriated another $280,000 in currency notes belonging to a woman who ran a business selling undisclosed “rare items” with her husband.

Farm, who is a Malaysian and a Singapore permanent resident, was sentenced to six years and nine months’ jail on Oct 2 after he pleaded guilty to four counts of criminal breach of trust.

He also admitted to an unrelated charge of performing a rash act.

Seven other charges were considered during his sentencing.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Jordy Kay said that the three debt collection companies – Empire Debt Collection, Empire DC Holdings and Empire SG Debt Recovery – were incorporated between 2020 and 2022.

Farm then roped in his friends to be shareholders and directors in the companies, as he could not obtain the necessary licence to operate debt collection services.

After that, he became an employee of the companies, running their daily business operations, including hiring new staff and handling money.

Another man, identified as Chua Yi An, 31, who had known Farm since 2013, worked for the three companies.

Chua was tasked with bringing in clients and managing them He was also entrusted with money that the clients had paid.

The funds were meant to be used for the debt collection services, the court heard.

The DPP said that between April 2023 and April 2025, Farm engaged in a conspiracy with Chua to misappropriate nearly $976,000 from Empire Debt Collection and Empire SG Debt Recovery.

Without revealing details, the prosecutor added that Farm shared the ill-gotten gains with Chua.

Farm then used his share on his personal expenses.

In an unrelated case, the court heard that Farm was a long-time customer of a married couple who ran a business selling “rare items”.

On Oct 8, 2024, he told the 40-year-old woman that he knew a businessman from China who wanted to buy 300 pieces of $1,000 currency notes and four pieces of $10,000 currency notes.

Details about these notes, which were worth $340,000, were not disclosed in court documents.

Farm also told her that she could “make some profit” as the businessman would be paying a slightly higher amount for the notes.

The woman agreed to sell the notes to the businessman. A week later, she took them to a Sentosa hotel and handed them to Farm.

He then told her that he would take the notes to the businessman as he did not want him to know that he was “only a middleman”.

Farm returned shortly after and said that the businessman did not like some of the notes as their serial numbers had “inauspicious numbers”. As a result, the businessman bought only some of the currency notes for $62,870.

Farm then handed the woman the remaining notes worth $280,000 and left the hotel with her.

But the next day, he contacted her again and said that the businessman was ready to buy the remaining notes for $294,610.

The woman handed the notes to Farm, who did not meet the businessman to complete the transaction.

Instead, he went to the Resorts World Sentosa casino and exchanged the notes for casino chips. He then used the chips to gamble and lost all of his ill-gotten gains.

Farm has since returned $4,000 to the woman and has made no further restitution.

Separately, he had flung a water bottle at a car in April 2024 and caused a dent after claiming that the driver had flashed him a lewd hand gesture.

Court documents did not disclose how Farm’s offences came to light, but he was charged in court in 2025.

Defence lawyers Amarick Gill and S. Ramanujen had pleaded for their client to be given six years’ jail.

The lawyers from Amarick Gill law firm stated in court documents: “(Farm) was in financial dire straits and resorted to committing the offences to pay off his personal debts and dabbled in gambling.

“He accepts full responsibility for his actions and vows never to reoffend.”

Farm’s bail was set at $20,000 on Oct 2, and he is expected to begin serving his sentence on Nov 13.