Former RGM Entertainment Chief Executive Officer Devesh Chetty is facing a 22 weeks sentence after a Singaporean court found him guilty of forgery. Chetty was leveled with three charges of forgery to cover missing funds that amount to as much as $12.5 million.
A local Singaporean news outlet reported that back in 2011, Singapore's Media Development Authority asked Chetty to account for two of his investments amounting to $11 million. Chetty forged two bank statements by changing the dates to make it appear that the money was still deposited in RGM's account.
Singapore's Media Development Authority agreed to a deal with RGM worth $27.5 million. An initial payment of $2.5 million was made for RGM to operate in Singapore, an additional $10 million will be given as film production funds, $5 million as seed money for an RGM fund with 20th Century Fox, and the remaining $10 million was for an RGM fund with Sony Pictures Entertainment.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Leon Weng Tat told the court that the misappropriated funds were used to pay off some of RGM's overdue loans.
In 2012, using his private company Sachmo International, Chetty borrowed $2 million from businessman Garrett Lim to bid for shares in Golden Village, which was then owned by Village Roadshow. At this time, Chetty committed his third act of forgery by altering the details of a bank statement in order to cover his tracks of misappropriation. According to Leong, Chetty forged bank statements to show that the company still had a balance of $4 million when in fact the account only had a "nominal balance."
The Singaporean High Court has since declared Chetty as bankrupt. RGM Entertainment is also in liquidation. Moreover, the $15 million given by the Media Development Authority and $2 million investment of Lim were never recovered.
