30 months' jail for woman who used blank cheques from her company to shop, pay school fees

SINGAPORE — When a director of the company where she worked handed her several blank cheques to pay vendors while he was overseas, Nur Wahida Abdul Malik saw this as an opportunity to pay for her own expenses. 

She used the cheques to pay for more than S$151,000 in personal expenses including her university tuition fees.

The 32-year-old also used the company's corporate credit card to pay for her online shopping spree that came to more than S$17,000.

In total, she took S$168,233.22 from Lotte Global Logistics Singapore.

On Thursday (March 14), Nur Wahida was sentenced to 30 months' jail after pleading guilty to two charges of criminal breach of trust.

Another two charges of criminal breach of trust and forgery were taken into consideration in sentencing.

WHAT HAPPENED

Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Tung Shou Pin told the court that Nur Wahida was employed as an accounts administrative clerk from May 2015 to October 2019.

When the company's managing director went overseas, he would sign several blank company cheques so that Nur Wahida may pay vendors while he was away.

Between June 28 and Nov 14 in 2017, she transferred S$151,144.10 to her bank account on 11 occasions by putting her name down as the payee on these cheques.

She used the money to pay for her tuition fees at the Singapore Institute of Management and for other personal expenses. 

The company's managing director would also hand her the company's credit card to pay for miscellaneous items. DPP Tung did not state what these items were.

She therefore knew the company's credit card number and its security code. 

Between Feb 2 and Oct 12 in 2018, she used the credit card on 45 occasions to pay for personal online shopping purchases that amounted to S$17,089.12.

To prevent auditors from detecting her misuse of the credit card, she amended the withdrawal figures on the bank statements for the company's account for March to April 2018 and June to October 2018.

"In September 2019, Lotte Singapore discovered that the accused had been dishonestly misappropriating its funds," DPP Tung said.

"Lotte Singapore conducted an internal investigation, during which the accused admitted what she had done."

PAYING BACK COMPANY

Pointing out that the offences happened over a year, DPP Tung said that Nur Wahida showed a "sustained pattern of deception" and thus asked for a sentence of 30 to 32 months' jail.

"This is an egregious breach of trust... she had access to literal blank cheques. If she had not made restitution, we would have asked for a higher sentence."

Nur Wahida paid back more than S$43,700 to the logistics company.

Defence lawyer Amarjit Singh of Amarjit Sidhu Law Corporation asked for a sentence of 22 to 24 months' jail.

"The accused is remorseful for her actions and hopes that she be extended some mercy so that she can return back to a life of normalcy. Her remorse is demonstrated by pleading guilty and being fully cooperative throughout the investigations," Mr Amarjit said.

He added that she had made partial restitution and agreed with her former employer to continue paying back the sum after she is released from prison.

For criminal breach of trust, she could have been jailed for up to 15 years and fined.