Singapore  - An executive who siphoned 1.9 million Singapore dollars (1.4 million US dollars) from a company and lost it in casinos was jailed for seven years and six months, news reports said on Tuesday.

While under investigation for sprees in Malaysia's Genting Highlands and on cruise ships, Ng Ting Hwa, 32, lied to the Immigration & Checkpoint Authority (ICA) to obtain a new passport and promptly left the city-state, The Straits Times said.

A graduate of the University of London, the district court heard he started working at Molnlycke Health Care Asia-Pacific, a leading provider of medical products, in 2004.

Ng, a customer service executive, pocketed the money from 35 shipments of the company's products to Econworldwide Medical Group.

Molnlycke's finance and logistics director became suspicious in May last year over the many transactions in which goods had been shipped, but no payment received, the report said.

Police took Ng's passport away during the investigation.

Ng told the ICA he lost his passport and obtained a new one. He used it to make several trips to Genting Highlands and a cruise ship's casino.

In asking for a stiff sentence on Monday, Deputy Public Prosecutor Amarjit Sinh said Ng had scant regard for the law and his company's trust.

"He did not even have a valid reason to leave the country," The Straits Times quoted Amarjit as saying. "Instead he took a few leisure trips out purportedly to gamble yet again." (dpa)