Grab Accidentally Transferred Over $33K to Driver; Driver Immediately Ghosted Grab & Was Jailed

I have a dream.

I have a dream that one day, some big-shot, filthy rich organisation’s gonna wire me a huge sum of money by mistake, and cause me to become a filthy millionaire.

Yes, that’s my dream.

But of course, considering how I call it a dream, it’s clear that it hasn’t happened to me. And honestly speaking, I doubt that it’ll be happening anytime soon either, seeing how luck hasn’t exactly been on my side lately.

Missed the bus that my eye candy’s perpetually on for three days in a row? Blasphemy.

But do not be mistaken; I still believe that my dream will come true, and as such, nowadays, I’m busy creating as many bank accounts as I can. Spreading the net, you get what I’m saying?

Editor: Hey, you do know that if your dream does come true, you’ll have to… like… give back the money, right? It’s illegal to keep it.

What? But my source told me that no action will be taken if I don’t wire back the money!

Editor: Have you actually read the headline of the article you’re writing?

Yeah, it’s…

Editor: Well?

Well…

It was great while it lasted.

Grab Accidentally Transferred Over $33K to Driver; Driver Immediately Ghosted Grab & Was Jailed

The introductory paragraph might’ve been one written with no intent in mind, but the key message’s genuine:

A driver, who was mistakenly transferred over $33K by Grab, tried to keep the funds for himself; and subsequently got a three months’ jail sentence as a result.

This is in accordance with an article Channel NewsAsia wrote on the topic.

What Happened

According to the news website, the money had been wrongly wired to Wong Siew Wai’s POSB savings account on 21 Aug last year, by a finance associate at Grab.

(Suffice to say, that finance associate must be in hot soup now)

The hefty sum, S$33,678.25, had originally been meant as payment to a vendor, Wow! Gadgets.

The mistake, however, was not uncovered until nine days later, when the vendor alerted the finance associate to the error in the payment advice. It was then that the finance associate alerted his colleagues.

Thereafter, Grab contacted Wong on 30 Aug and 31 Aug, notifying him of the mistake and requesting for him to return the amount.

But did Wong return it?

Well, no.

Finders Keepers

After being ‘notified’, Wong turned down Grab’s request, and deliberately ghosted the organisation.

According to Channel News Asia, he then dialled POSB to inquire whether “the bank would take any action against an account holder who refuses to return funds that were erroneously transferred”.

And according to the finder, the answer was a resounding no.

“The accused claimed that the POSB representative told him no action would be taken,” said Deputy Public Prosecutor Claire Poh.

With the answer in mind, he then set about spending his newfound financial funds for around two months, with money going to personal bills, bank transfers, cashcard top-ups and other transactions.

He also made prominent bank transfers to settle his son’s school fees, and reportedly withdrew a total cash sum of S$8,300.

But are finders truly keepers?

On 24 Oct last year, a regional finance controller with Grab finally made a police report, and Wong soon found himself faced with the long arm of Justice.

Interviewed by the police a day later, he confessed to misappropriation of money, claiming that he chose to spend the amount (instead of returning it) due to financial difficulties.

Apparently, on the day he spoke to the police, around $11,000, or a third of the money from Grab, was still in his bank account.

The remaining sum was subsequently transferred back to Grab four days later, and Wong returned an additional S$1,000 to the company.

Will action be taken if you take the money? Yes.

In court, Wong pleaded guilty to one charge of misappropriation, though he was allowed to defer his sentence to 27 May.

According to CNA, however, he was sentenced to a three months’ jail sentence on Thursday (23 May).

For misappropriation, he could have been locked up for up to two years, fined, or both.

And so… moral of the story here?

Should you ever have the fortune to receive a large sum of money from some big-shot organisation because of a mistake somewhere, please…

Do not be tempted to keep it.

Because it will just lead to worse consequences, as Wong’s situation surely serves to remind.

Aunt Matilda: Bullshit, I want to get rich quickly.

Well, Aunt Matilda, if you spent less time drinking alcohol and more time improving your dating game, you might get a rich husband soon.

Aunt Matilda: You ass, come back here!