Former Miss Universe S’pore Contestant Jailed 6 Weeks for Using Friends’ Debit Card to Shop Online

Contrary to popular belief, beauty is not synonymous with good moral values. That is to say; you can be good-looking, but that does not necessarily mean that you’re a good person.

Now do not be mistaken; I’m not saying that all good-looking people are conniving people. There are, of course, beautiful people with good moral values around us.

But here’s the thing. There will always be black sheep in every farm…

And sometimes, they may, well, do things that break off from the conventional moral scale.

Like stealing from your own friends, for instance.

Former Miss Universe S’pore Contestant Jailed 6 Weeks for Using Friends’ Debit Card to Shop Online

A former Miss Universe Singapore Contestant has been sentenced to six weeks’ jail – for using her friends’ debit cards to spend $2,000 online.

As you may have guessed, she used the cards without permission.

She had earlier pleaded guilty in December 2020, to four charges of unauthorised access to materials on a computer – which reportedly accounted for around $1,000 in total. The court sentence was handed out on Thursday (11 February 2021).

27 other similar charges, that pertain to the remaining amount, were also taken into consideration.

Ashley Rita Wong Kai Lin, 27, had committed the offences in 2016 after a break-up.

The first victim was Mr Andrew Lim, a 28-year-old friend of hers. When he left his wallet on a table, Wong reportedly took out a debit card and memorised the details.

She then returned it to his wallet.

That information was later subjected to abuse between 7 September and 24 September in 2016, when she made purchases of more than $700 on online shopping platforms.

Mr Lim would eventually find out about the unauthorised transactions, and confronted Wong – to whom she admitted her crime.

Money No Enough 3

The second victim was another friend – 26-year-old Kimberly Qwee.

Like the previous case, Wong memorised Ms Qwee’s debit card details, and later used the information to fork out $264.83 for accommodation at Hotel Clover.

The crime was later uncovered when Ms Qwee failed to make online payments with the debit card – due to insufficient funds in her bank account.

This would not exactly have provoked suspicions, had Ms Qwee’s father not reportedly transferred monies to her account beforehand.

After checking her account, Ms Quee discovered the Hotel Clover Charge.

Initially suspicious of her former boyfriend, she confided in Wong, only to find out later that her friend had done it.

She went on to confront Wong, and the latter eventually admitted it.

The bank managed to retrieve the sum from Hotel Clover through a charge-back process, and later refunded Ms Quee the full sum. Wong, on the other hand, has reportedly since made full restitution to the hotel.

For each charge under the Computer Misuse and Cybersecurity Act, a first-time offender can be subjected to a two-year prison sentence and a fine of up to $5,000.

As for repeat offenders, they can be jailed for up to three years and fined up to $10,000.

Here’s hoping that Wong will learn to keep her avid memorisation skills to herself, because no matter how arduous the circumstances may be…

There’s no excusing theft – especially from your own friends.

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