SINGAPORE: While visiting his bedridden friend in hospital, who was unable to speak, a man used her mobile phone to unlawfully access her Central Provident Fund (CPF) account and transferred S$54,000 to her bank account.
Yu Mingyan then transferred the 62-year-old woman’s money to his own bank account.
Yu, 34, who committed the offences after correctly guessing her passwords, was sentenced to 18 months and two weeks’ jail, and a fine of $30,000 on Monday (Sept 8).
He will spend an additional month behind bars if he fails to pay the fine.
The Singaporean pleaded guilty to two counts of misusing a computer system.
He also admitted to two other unrelated charges – one count each of helping to carry on the business of an unlicensed moneylender and misappropriating $197 from his then workplace.
When caught, he told police investigators that he misappropriated the money “out of habit”.
On Sept 8, Deputy Public Prosecutor Jeremy Bin told the court that the authorities had looked into Yu’s financial records and found out that he has no means to make any restitution.
Court documents stated that the bedridden victim was Yu’s former colleague and close friend.
She was warded at Gleneagles Hospital because of medical issues not disclosed in court documents. Yu, who was in debt at the time, would visit her there.
On three occasions between June 10 and July 27, 2023, he transferred $54,000 of her CPF money to his bank account.
The woman’s niece later lodged an electronic report after noticing multiple suspicious transactions to a bank account belonging to Yu.
DPP Bin said: “When the victim’s niece questioned the accused on the transfers... the accused lied and claimed that he did not know how the transactions had occurred.
“(He alleged) that he could not repay the victim as he was also a victim of whoever was causing these unauthorised transactions and was therefore not in possession of the victim’s monies.”
To bolster his lies in October 2023, Yu took a real police report that his mother had previously filed on an undisclosed matter and altered the content to make it look like he had alerted the authorities in August that year about the suspicious transactions.
After that, he sent this forged police report to the victim’s niece to placate her.
In an unrelated case, the court heard that Yu borrowed $600 from an unlicensed moneylender in October 2023.
As he was unable to keep up with a repayment schedule, he agreed to perform other services for the moneylender.
Yu facilitated bank transfers for the moneylender by using his own bank account. He then opened a new account and shared its details with the lender.
Debtors deposited money into the account, which Yu then transferred to other accounts on the moneylender’s behalf.
Separately, Yu was working as a physiotherapist assistant at a hospital when he was entrusted to handle a petty cash box for his department.
He misappropriated $197 from it on July 23, 2024, and used it for his personal expenses.
Yu’s bail was set at $15,000 on Sept 8, and he is expected to begin serving his sentence on Sept 30. - The Straits Times/ANN
