While visiting a bedridden friend at Gleneagles Hospital, 34-year-old Singaporean Yu Mingyan used the friend’s phone and the Singpass application to authorise three withdrawals totalling S$54,000 (about US$42,000) from her Central Provident Fund (CPF) account in Jun and Jul 2023.
The victim, a 62-year-old former colleague and close friend of Yu, was permanently warded, could not move or speak, and had entrusted her phone to be near her.
Yu accessed her CPF account by guessing her phone and mobile app passwords.
On the first occasion he transferred S$30,000, on the second S$20,000, and on the third S$4,000, first moving the money to her bank account before sending the sums to himself.
The victim’s niece noticed the transactions and questioned Yu.
He denied wrongdoing and claimed he too was a victim of unauthorised transfers.
In Oct 2023, Yu edited a genuine police report earlier filed by his mother to make it appear he had lodged a report in Aug 2023 about the transactions, then sent the forged document to the niece.
He became uncontactable in Jan 2024 after further queries, and the niece lodged a police report in Oct 2024.
Prosecutors also stated that, separate from the S$54,000, Yu had taken undisclosed sums from the victim in Apr 2023 and repaid her for those amounts.
Yu later told the court he believed the victim still had about S$166,000 left in her account based on what he saw, a claim the judge noted was unverified.
Forged police report, loan shark transfers, DBS account closure, and petty cash theft
Yu’s debts extended beyond the CPF offences.
In Oct 2023 he borrowed S$600 from an unlicensed moneylender, could not meet repayments, and agreed to facilitate bank transfers instead, opening a new bank account for this purpose.
In Nov 2023 he conducted at least 16 transfers on the loan shark’s behalf, receiving funds and making outward transfers as directed.
One inward transfer came from a 44-year-old woman who later reported she had been repaying unlicensed loans to accounts including Yu’s.
DBS flagged Yu’s account for suspicious transactions on 14 Nov 2023 and closed it.
Separately, while working as a physiotherapist assistant at Farrer Park Hospital in Jul 2024, Yu took S$197 from a petty cash box, spent the money, and told police he did this “out of habit”.
Pleaded Guilty
On 08 Sep 2025, Yu pleaded guilty to two counts under the Computer Misuse Act for using his friend’s phone and Singpass to authorise CPF transfers, and to two further charges for assisting an unlicensed moneylender and misappropriating cash.
Two other charges were taken into consideration.
District Judge Eddy Tham sentenced Yu to 18 months and two weeks’ jail and a fine of S$30,000, with one month’s jail in default if the fine is unpaid.
The judge allowed Yu to defer the start of his sentence to the end of the month to settle work and family matters.
Asked about compensation, Yu said he was working but financially unable to repay the victim, stating he could not set aside money because it was for his family.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Jeremy Bin said investigation officers had reviewed Yu’s finances and concluded he could not afford compensation, so none was sought; Mr Bin had sought at least 16 months’ jail and a S$30,000 fine, and highlighted the misuse of the Singpass system.
Judge Tham described Yu’s conduct as “highly egregious” for taking advantage of a close friend in a worse state than him. He said, “Instead of helping your friend, you have betrayed her trust by helping yourself to her CPF monies to alleviate your own problems,” adding that Yu had “no qualms” about taking money needed for her care and committing forgery to conceal the offence.
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