73YO Jailed 7 Months Because She Allowed Criminals to Use Her Bank Account

By
Rae Woo
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Often, when someone we know asks for monetary help, some of us would want to do whatever we can in our power to assist them out of the goodness of our hearts.

For others, they would do so even if they happen to be a stranger.

It is not always that your good intentions will result in good karma for you, sadly.

Bank Account Was Used For Criminal Activities

73-year-old Jeanne Jennie Aw Soh Tin found herself in a sticky situation when she was caught allowing criminals to use her bank account to commit and conceal illegal activities.

In this time, she handled $300,000 worth of benefits gained from these illegal activities.

On 4 March, Thursday, Aw pleaded guilty to three counts of dealing with ill-gotten gains that came up to about $130,000.

As for the remaining amount, sixteen other charges were held against her, which played a part in sentencing.

Aw will now have to spend seven months in jail to pay for her crimes.

They Met On Facebook

This is the part where your elders’ advice about being careful of who you meet on the Internet become of importance, for you really can’t trust every single person you interact with.

Aw made the acquaintance of a man on the platform in 2016 and had since agreed to help him with receiving cash in her bank account on his behalf.

That December, one of the victims from the man’s illegal activities made a police report against Aw’s account, saying that they had paid a deposit for a loan into the account which was never given to them.

She was called in for an interview with the police on 30 Aug 2017, where they warned her that the man, who was only known as “Vincent”, was a criminal.

The police issued a letter of advisory to her and urged her to stop taking instructions from him – but she did not listen.

Within the same year in October, there was an incident in which a woman who suffered from trading losses decided to take a loan from unauthorised moneylenders, said Deputy Public Prosecutor Haniza Abnass.

The woman transferred $30,000 to Aw’s bank account on the 20th after being instructed by the moneylenders to do so.

Vincent then told Aw to withdraw the monies and pass it to one of his “workers”, who later visited Aw in a Malaysian-registered vehicle where she handed the amount to him in cash.

Later in the month, she once again received two payments totalling up to $100,000 from another victim, which she withdrew and passed to the same worker again.

She Believed She Was Helping Others Out

Aw “fervently believed” that she was doing good by helping others out with their difficulties, defended her lawyers Mr Josephus Tan and Mr Cory Wong.

They added that Aw “admitted that she had been ‘too kind and gullible’ and confessed that with advanced age, she has become more prone to suggestion by others.”

Aw had also been diagnosed with mild neurocognitive disorder which suggests the onset of early dementia.

As such, Aw gave firm instructions to the court to request a probation suitability report for herself, and if it was not possible, she would plead for a high global fine.

Despite receiving the money, the court heard that she did not receive any monetary benefits for her role.

Unfortunately, DPP Hafiza still felt that the offence committed by Aw was very serious, and urged the court to sentence her to nine months of jail – to which walking-stick bound Aw sobbed after hearing it.

She will be required to surrender herself at the State Courts on 5 April to begin serving her sentence, where bail has been set at $20,000.

Let this be a lesson to all not to aid random strangers on the Internet is doing shady business, for you may fall prey as a victim too.

Feature Image: Creative Caliph / Shutterstock.com

 

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Rae Woo
Email: [email protected]