A FORMER relationship manager of Citibank who invested US$6 million (S$8.6 million) in funds after forging her customers' signatures on bank documents was sentenced to eight months' jail on Thursday.

Premala Ramasamy, 30, now a housewife, pleaded guilty earlier this month to 13 charges of forgery for the purpose of cheating.

She had forged the signatures of customers to open new accounts, get bank loans and use those loans to invest in mutual funds between April and October 2005. None of the customers whose signatures were forged on the documents knew of the forgeries.

In the proceeded charges, she had forged most of the documents to open accounts for her customers while three were for forging signatures of clients to get loans of between US$50,000 and US$540,000 from the bank.

She then used the money to invest in mutual funds in the customers' names.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Alvin Koh said Citibank had to pay about US$111,939 to its customers for losses arising from Premala's unauthorised opening of accounts, loans and investments.

But there were gains in some of the investments totalling about US$113,449.

Twenty-six other charges were taken into consideration while she was given a discharge not amounting to an acquittal on 19 charges.

Pleading for leniency, Mr Subhas Anandan said his client, who has a sickly three-year-old son, did not benefit from the offences and had caused no losses to anyone.

District Judge Francis Tseng allowed Premala to defer her sentence until Jan 31 to settle her personal affairs.

Each charge of forgery carries a jail term of up to seven years and a fine.