SINGAPORE: A woman who had been employed as an administrative clerk at a temple since 1995 admitted that she had stolen more than $150,000 in donations.
In her role, Goh Bee Hiang, 59, was entrusted with handling the finances of the Tampines Chinese Temple, located in Tampines Street 21.
The offences, which took place between September 2018 and December 2019, came to light when she could not produce the necessary bank documents during the temple’s annual general meeting in 2020.
On Nov 7, Goh was sentenced to 12 months’ jail after she pleaded guilty to one count of criminal breach of trust. One similar charge was taken into consideration.
The court heard that Goh had acted as a bookkeeper for the organisation and helped prepare accounting records. She was also responsible for issuing receipt slips for cash donations made by devotees.
All the cash donations were then kept in a safe within the temple. Goh was the only employee who held the key to the safe.
Seeking a jail term of between 13 and 15 months, the prosecution said that Goh had misappropriated around $28,000 from the temple in 2018 and about $123,006 in 2019.
At the end of each year, the 59-year-old would compute the total donations collected based on the consolidated receipt books.
To cover up her tracks, she would then delay giving the temple’s treasurer the consolidated receipt books until she was able to make up the stolen difference with new cash donations the following year.
She was finally caught on Aug 2, 2020, when the temple’s chairman asked Goh for the temple’s bank statements during an annual general meeting.
Goh eventually admitted that she had misappropriated about $150,000 in total from the temple’s coffers, and a police report was made the next day.
In mitigation, Goh’s lawyer, Tham Kok Leong, said she had taken the money to pay her late elder brother’s medical bills.
He added that Goh and her siblings, who were described as being “not well off”, had also raised $5,000 together to make partial restitution to the temple.
Tham urged the court to impose a lower sentence than what the prosecution had sought for, arguing that Goh was getting old in age and has been unemployed since the incident.
Those found guilty of committing criminal breach of trust can be jailed for up to 15 years and fined. - The Straits Times/ANN
