A 47-year-old convenience store employee who lacked funds for her wedding borrowed money from a loan shark, only to be asked to pay $20,000 in processing fees.
She decided to take the risk by using the electronic wallet terminal system in the convenience store to top up the loan shark’s e-wallet with $11,000.
The bride-to-be, Saniah Bte Mohd Khalid, 47, pleaded guilty to one count of theft and one count of violating the Computer Misuse Act on Tuesday (13 May 2025).
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Unauthorised Transactions Through Store Terminal
At the time of the incident, Saniah worked at a convenience store located at Block 331, Serangoon Avenue 3, where her duties included providing top-up services for customers’ electronic wallets (Singtel Dash).
Typically, after customers make payment, store employees top up e-wallets through the point-of-sale terminal system and pay the corresponding amount to Singtel on a weekly basis.
Before 26 May 2024, the accused attempted to borrow money for her wedding expenses from a loan shark, but was told she needed to pay $20,000 in processing fees first to secure the loan.
The loan shark then instructed her to top up his e-wallet using phone numbers he provided, to satisfy part of the processing fees.
For this purpose, the accused performed 22 unauthorised top-up transactions on 26 and 27 May 2024, totalling $11,000.
Six of these transactions were carried out by a colleague following Saniah’s text message instructions on the evening of 27 May.
She told the colleague that these transactions would be reconciled later. Since the accused had authorisation to use the top-up system, her colleague complied without questioning.
Ten-Month Prison Sentence
The prosecution noted that the accused had previously misappropriated funds while working for another employer in 2020, resulting in a $4,000 fine.
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Prosecutors argued that the accused committed the crime for personal gain and implicated an innocent colleague, requesting that the judge impose a severe punishment of five to seven months’ imprisonment.
The defence lawyer pleaded that the accused acted out of financial difficulties and deeply regretted her actions.
She immediately indicated her intention to plead guilty and promised this would be her last offence, hoping to move forward afterwards.
When passing sentence, the judge pointed out that the accused had not made any restitution and had a prior criminal record, ultimately sentencing her to 10 months in prison.
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