Ma Shumei, an ex-personal financial consultant at Standard Chartered Bank in Singapore, has been sentenced to 10 months in jail for forgery, cheating, and money laundering, the bank confirmed. 

The 26-year-old pleaded guilty to eight of the 23 charges brought against her, involving unauthorised withdrawals from clients' accounts while she was employed under the bank's Scotts Mall branch from October 2009 to February 2010, media reports said.

"This is an isolated case and we would like to highlight that at Standard Chartered, we take the security of customers funds very seriously," said a spokesperson for the bank in an email to WealthBriefing Asia.

"The Bank always seeks to adhere to the highest standards of compliance with applicable laws and regulations. We would also like to reinforce that the Bank has rigorous security processes and procedures in place which all employees are expected to comply with, as well as a robust process of audit. In instances where non-compliance with such laws or procedures is detected, disciplinary action will be taken against the employee in question."

Ma reportedly forged client Brian Wayne McLachlan's signature to create another account without his knowledge and used this as repository for funds transferred from the original account in December 2009. From there, the money was wired to accounts owned by her friends who then gave them to her through Internet banking or in cash. 

In January 2010, she did the same with another client, Suparmi Sakri. It was not until March 2010 that Sakri noticed the unauthorised transactions and notified the bank. It is said that Ma made about S$105,000 ($86,000) from her activities.

She has reportedly made full restitution to her victims.