Banker faces 10,000 years in prison

SINGAPORE -- A customer service officer at a Singapore branch of British banking giant HSBC Holdings is facing nearly 10,000 years in prison for siphoning S$12.6 million ($6.9 million) from an internal account.

Singapore banker Chong Seah Wee, 39, has been charged with 1,415 counts of cheating for allegedly stealing money from a U.S.-dollar account between March 1997 and last month, court documents show.

Each charge carries a maximum prison sentence of seven years, bringing his possible jail term to nearly 10,000 years.

Chong's lawyer A. Rajandran confirmed HSBC had started civil proceedings against his client and that Chong's wife, an HSBC executive, had been suspended from work.

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"She's been told not to come to work for the time being," Rajandran told Reuters news agency. "She has cooperated with the police fully."

Banking sources said she was not working at the same branch as her husband. An HSBC spokeswoman said Chong's wife was still in the bank's employ.

The sources said police had alerted the bank after investigating Chong. The money in question was from the "float" in one of the bank's own foreign currency accounts, they added.

The Commercial Affairs Department, Singapore's white-collar crime unit has recovered about S$3 million of the missing money.

The HSBC spokeswoman declined to discuss details of the case, other than to say customer funds were not at risk.

After three court appearances by Chong -- the latest on Thursday involving 853 charges -- District Court Judge Victor Yeo fixed a pre-trial conference for February 28.

Chong's passport has been impounded and bail has been set at S$10 million. He failed to post the sum on Thursday.