Man gets jail after embezzling more than S$194,000 from employer, leaving Singapore

CNA

6 hours ago

SINGAPORE: A sales agent with a maid employment agency siphoned more than S$194,000 (US$151,600) over a two-year period before leaving Singapore in 2014.
Wong Chow Toon was arrested only in 2023 when he returned to Singapore.
The 53-year-old was sentenced to one-and-a-half years' jail on Monday (Jun 16) after he pleaded guilty to two charges of criminal breach of trust as a servant.
The Singaporean started working at United Home International on Oct 2, 2010. As part of his job, he would collect payments to the company from customers who hired domestic workers.
United Home International usually collected fees in two tranches. The first payment would be made at the point of application and the final payment would be collected when the domestic worker began the job.
In the same month that he started work as a sales agent, Wong began pocketing money belonging to the company, most of them being the final payments.
He would ask customers to pay both fees upfront at the point of application, claiming that this was the company's policy.
He would then issue a receipt to customers, which reflected that both fees were paid.
However, he manipulated the records in that he would have placed another sheet directly behind the receipt to prevent the carbon copies behind from being imprinted. Then, he wrote separately on the carbon copies to indicate that only the agency fees were paid.
He kept one copy in the office and another was given to a driver with the company who would take the fees in cash to the main office.
After the company had sourced a domestic worker and the employment had commenced, Wong would use placement fees from other customers to make payment to the company under a new receipt, which would not be given to the customer.
Using this method, he collected and embezzled S$87,208 between Jan 13, 2012 and Dec 29, 2012.
The following year, between Jan 5 and Dec 29, he siphoned another S$107,156.
He spent the money on personal expenses and drinks.
Wong left Singapore on Sep 28, 2014 and returned on Jan 9, 2023, when he was arrested at Changi Airport.
Of the S$194,364 he misappropriated in total, Wong and his sister made partial restitution of S$74,543.50.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Charles How said Wong fled the country for more than eight years, demonstrating a lack of remorse.
However, Wong's lawyer, Mr John Koh from Avalon Law Corporation, said this description did not capture the nuances of Wong's situation.
He said Wong and his sister had reached an agreement to repay the money in instalments and Wong was supposed to pay a portion of his salary every month to the company.
When market conditions took a downturn, Wong's earnings fell from S$3,000 to S$4,000 a month to S$500 to S$600.
Wong asked his employer to allow him to resign to seek alternative employment so that he could earn a better salary and return the money he owed, Mr Koh added. His employer refused the request.
Several months later, Wong decided to leave for Thailand when he was offered a better job.
His employer filed a police report when he left Singapore. Wong's sister continued to contact the company to maintain their intention of returning the money owed, but the employer evaded her correspondence.
"It would not be fair to infer that our client had intended to evade justice while also trying to contact his employer for repayment," Mr Koh argued.
The prosecution, in turn, pointed to an escalation in criminal behaviour exhibited by Wong as an aggravating factor.
He was convicted in 2009 of criminal breach of trust and sentenced to a S$7,000 fine.
The prosecution sought 18 to 20 months' jail, while the defence proposed 14 to 16 months' jail.