Former Residents’ Committee manager jailed for taking S$590, using cleaner’s IC to get phone plan
A constituency manager at the Residents’ Committee of Woodlands Zone 1 (pictured) discovered discrepancies in its bank account before Sri Hawa Safiee's deeds were uncovered.
SINGAPORE — While working as a manager for the Residents’ Committee (RC) of Woodlands Zone 1, Sri Hawa Safiee misappropriated S$590 in cash that people had paid for course and booking fees.
After coming across a photocopy of her subordinate’s identity card, she also used it to apply for a Singtel mobile phone plan online.
Singtel chased the victim for S$1,335 in unpaid bills before Sri Hawa was caught.
The 40-year-old Singaporean was jailed three months and six weeks on Monday (Sept 28), after pleading guilty to one count each of criminal breach of trust and cheating. A third similar charge was considered for sentencing.
Sri Hawa was employed by the People’s Association in 2015, after she met the Member of Parliament (MP) in her constituency to discuss her financial difficulties and joblessness.
The MP, who was not named in court documents, referred her to go for an interview and she got the job. Former MP Ellen Lee was in charge of the Woodlands Division at the time, before she was succeeded by former MP Amrin Amin from September 2015 to June 2020.
Sri Hawa's role was to handle the RC’s financial accounts and manage the courses and activities. Residents entrusted her with cash and cheques for the activities and events.
In August 2015, the RC’s vice-chairman gave her S$500 in cash that residents had paid to book a table for the annual National Day dinner.
He told her to deposit it in the RC’s bank account and issue a cheque for the same amount, to be made payable to the constituency that was organising the dinner.
She issued the cheque but pocketed the money for her personal expenses instead. It is not known what happened to the cheque.
In June 2016, she collected S$90 from residents for a mooncake-making course, but spent the cash on herself again.
A constituency manager, who was her direct supervisor, discovered discrepancies in the RC’s bank account. An internal audit was launched and she was later fired.
She has not made any restitution.
GETTING A NEW PHONE
In another offence, around July 2015, Sri Hawa accidentally came across a photocopy of her subordinate’s identity card in an office drawer.
She used the 58-year-old cleaner’s personal particulars, including her National Registration Identity Card number, to apply for a mobile phone plan in the other woman’s name.
Singtel sent Sri Hawa a Samsung mobile phone — valued at about S$998 — as part of the plan. She used the phone for a few months before selling it to a secondhand mobile phone shop for S$300.
The monthly bills from July to November 2015 went unpaid and Singtel then terminated the line, before recruiting a third-party firm to chase the victim for the debts.
The victim learned of this in June 2016 and told her son, who helped her to file a police report. She also told her RC superiors because Sri Hawa had designated the RC’s office as the billing address in her Singtel application.
Mr Pramnath Vijayakumar, a pro bono lawyer for Sri Hawa, said in mitigation that she has remained crime-free for the last four years and continues to support her family and children.
District Judge Ronald Gwee agreed with the prosecution that “a deterrent message has to be sent out”, especially since photocopies of identity cards can be easily made.
