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A Singaporean man has been jailed for betraying the trust of his bedridden friend and stealing SDG54,000 (RM177,290) from her Central Provident Fund (CPF) savings
Yu Mingyan, 34, used his former colleague's mobile phone while visiting her at Gleneagles Hospital, where she was bedridden and unable to speak due to undisclosed medical issues. He accessed her CPF account, Singapore's equivalent of Malaysia's Employees Provident Fund (EPF), by correctly guessing her password.
Between 10 June and 27 July 2023, he made three transfers into the 62-year-old's bank account before moving the money into his own.
Court documents confirmed that the woman was Yu's close friend and former colleague, which made it easier for him to guess her phone credentials, CNA reported.
Yu pleaded guilty to two counts of misusing a computer system
He also admitted to two other unrelated offences — acting as a runner for an unlicensed moneylender and misappropriating SGD197 from his previous workplace, where he was employed as a physiotherapist assistant.
When questioned by police, he explained that he had misappropriated the money "out of habit", reported The Straits Times.
Deputy public prosecutor Jeremy Bin told the court that a review of Yu's financial records he had no means to make restitution.
The suspicious transfers were noticed by the bedridden woman's niece, who lodged an electronic report after spotting multiple transactions to Yu's bank account.
"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," Bin told the court.
To bolster his lies, Yu altered a genuine police report his mother had filed, making it appear though he had alerted authorities about the unauthorised transfers
He then sent this forged report to the victim's niece in an attempt to placate her.
Separately, Yu borrowed SGD600 from an unlicensed moneylender in October 2023. Unable to keep up with repayments, he agreed to perform other services for the lender, including facilitating bank transfers through his own accounts.
He later opened a new account, shared its details with the lender, and channelled debtor payments into other accounts on the lender's behalf.
His bail was set at SGD15,000 (RM49,000), after the judge allowed Yu to defer his jail term to the end of the month to settle personal matters.
He is expected to begin serving his 18-month, two-week sentence on 30 September. He was also fined SGD30,000 (RM98,000).
