Peter Tham

Peter Tham Wing Fai (born in 1949) was a Singaporean stockbroker and the director of Pan-Electric Industries. A failure by him to observe a forward contract agreement that he negotiated with Tan Koon Swan was responsible for the company's collapse in 1985. [cite news | title = Share-Trading Time Bomb That Toppled An Asian Pyramid / Singapore stock market crisis | date = 6 December 1985 | publisher = Financial Times | page = 24]

Tham left Singapore in 1984, before Pan-El collapsed. In April 1986, he was traced to Seattle in the United States by FBI officials. [cite news | title = Mr Peter Tham Wing Fai, who is being sought by the authorities in Singapore for his involvement in the financially troubled Pan-Electric Industries, has been traced to the United States. | date = 4 April 1986 | publisher = Lloyd's List International | page = 3] He flew to Tokyo, from where he was extradited back to Singapore, immediately arrested, [cite news | title = Pan-Electric Director Arrested / Peter Tham detained at Singapore airport | date = 15 April 1986 | publisher = Financial Times | page = 33] and charged with 26 counts of helping Tan Kok Liang to make "fictitious sharetrading transactions." [cite news | title = Mr Peter Tham Wing Fai, formerly an employee of Pan Electric, now faces a total of 26 criminal charges, following the addition of a count of criminal breach of trust. | date = 1 May 1986 | publisher = Lloyd's List International | page = 14] He was eventually sentenced to a total of 10 years in jail—eight in 1986 for forging Pan-Electric share certificates and two in 1988 for criminal breach of trust. [cite news | title = FORMER PAN-ELECTRIC DIRECTOR JAILED FOR FURTHER TWO YEARS. | date = 17 September 1988 | publisher = Reuters News] In February 1991, he was declared a bankrupt for owing S$ 25 million to various parties.cite news | title = Ex Pan-El director Tham accused of hiding assets. | author = KAREN WONG. | date = 4 May 2000 | publisher = The Straits Times]

Tham was released from jail early, in 1992. He divorced his wife, Joyce Aw, whom he had married in 1983, and married Kok Mei Yee in 1995. In 1998, he was in trouble with the law again after Kok alleged that he had beaten her. She also informed the Official Assignee that although he was still officially a bankrupt, he had been keeping a collection of antique longcase clocks and Chinese pottery with a total value of S$400,000 in their Peck Hay Road apartment, without declaring them to the Official Assignee as was required by law. [cite news | title = Ex-Pan-El man hit me, says wife. | author = Tan Ooi Boon | date = 11 April 1998 | publisher = The Straits Times] Although his wife later withdrew the private summons charge of assault, [cite news | title = Ex-director cleared of hitting wife. | date = 19 May 1998 | publisher = The Straits Times] he was still being investigated for hiding personal assets and in May 2000, he was charged with hiding about S$ 1.7 million in cash, three cars and other items from the authorities. The trial was adjourned but when the case was next mentioned in September 2000, Tham's lawyer could not contact him and a warrant of arrest was issued for Tham.cite news | title = Money, women, trouble. | date = 17 September 2000 | publisher = The Straits Times] [cite news | title = Wanted - Ex-director of Pan-Electric Peter Tham. | author = KAREN WONG. | date = 16 September 2000 | publisher = The Straits Times]

Tham was later traced to the Indonesian island of Batam, but has since disappeared again. In 2004, his story was re-enacted on an episode of MediaCorp's "Missing" television series.cite web | url = http://ch5.mediacorptv.com/shows/drama/episodes/644/1/5/.html | title = MISSING FORMER DIRECTOR OF PAN-ELECTRIC INDUSTRIES | publisher = MediaCorp | accessdate = 2007-05-12]

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