A BUSINESSWOMAN who submitted inflated invoices to a Swiss watch manufacturer was jailed for three weeks on Monday for forgery.

Seah Poh Gek, 44, who is appealing against the sentence, pleaded guilty to four of 15 charges.

The amount she inflated in the proceeded charges in late 2005 totalled $61,207.

She is a brand director and shareholder of Precious Time, which she co-manages with her husband.

A district court heard that Precious Time was appointed by Milus International SA in 2005 to distribute their watches in Singapore.

While promoting Milus watches, Precious Time incurred marketing and advertising expenses. It was agreed that Precious Time would bear those expenses first and would then be reimbursed by Milus.

The court heard that Seah set up Timecraft in October that year as the marketing and advertising arm of Precious Time. But the plan did not materialise as the company was sold two months later.

In October and December 2005, she forged invoices in the name of Timecraft and International Trade Alliance respectively for $71,320 to Milus as marketing expenses that actually amounted to $38,823.

Only the December invoice was paid as she had voided the first invoice due to her decision to sell the company.

She also instigated a former employee, Ms Lim Mei Yan, to make false invoices in the names of two companies in November that year.

She had instructed Ms Lim to cheat Milus into making additional reimbursement to Precious Time by altering the addressee on the invoices from Precious Time to Timecraft, and the amounts payable from $14,290 to $31,000 and from $23,000 to $35,000.

The remaining 11 charges were considered during sentencing.

District Judge Toh Yung Cheong raised her current $30,000 bail to $40,000 pending her appeal.