Jail for Resorts World Sentosa manager who cheated employer of S$300,000 over 4 years by falsifying refunds
SINGAPORE — A senior manager at Resorts World Sentosa (RWS) cheated his employer of more than S$300,000 over four years, by creating false refunds through the ticketing system at the Universal Studios Singapore theme park.
Yap Canrong, 35, was sentenced to 18 months' jail on Thursday (Nov 30) for the crime.
He pleaded guilty to a charge of cheating RWS of a total sum of S$159,233 on 55 separate occasions over six months in 2017.
Another three similar charges where he induced RWS to give him an extra sum of S$150,003 were taken into consideration for sentencing.
As senior manager of attractions, promotions and events, Yap had access to RWS’ “Galaxy” ticketing system, which managed the one-day tickets and express passes for Universal Studios Singapore located on Sentosa Island.
From Jan 3 to July 26 in 2017, Yap manipulated the ticketing system to indicate that guests had requested refunds for their tickets and passes despite them having made no such requests and having already used their passes.
Yap would then create a false repurchase or repost the payment within the system to allow him to take physical cash from a cashier at RWS, court documents stated, without giving more details on how this repurchase and cash withdrawal work or how his offences were eventually detected.
TODAY has reached out to RWS for comment.
Yap was arrested on July 27 in 2017.
The three charges taken into consideration for sentencing pertain to another 139 incidents from 2014 to 2016 where he similarly processed false cash refund requests and induced RWS to give him S$150,003.
Yap deposited all the ill-gotten cash into his bank accounts and used the money to pay off his credit card bills.
Deputy Public Prosecutor June Ngian sought a jail term of 18 months, noting that Yap cheated a total sum of S$309,236 from RWS over a period of four years.
The court heard that the integrated resort came to a civil settlement with Yap on restitution “in full” and that he had repaid S$180,000.
Mr Riko Isaac of Tembusu Law, who represented the man, said that Yap was struggling financially because he failed to get a bank loan for his restaurant business.
The lawyer argued for leniency, saying that Yap had resorted to misappropriating the money to alleviate his “severe financial pressure”.
He also said that Yap was remorseful, because he had consistently indicated a desire to plead guilty to his offences over the course of the six-year investigation.
Mr Isaac added that this was Yap's first offence and that the money he gained from committing this offence was used solely for the purpose of paying his credit card bills and personal debts, and that Yap had no personal gain otherwise.
In delivering the sentence, District Judge Lim Tse Haw said that he considered the man's clean record before this offence and the restitution he had made to RWS, which was deemed by the company to be a full settlement.
However, the judge said that a sentence of 18 months’ jail was not “manifestly excessive” since the sum Yap cheated from his employer was “high”.
The offences had also taken place over a long period of four years, bearing in mind the three charges taken into consideration, the judge added.
For cheating, Yap could have been sentenced to up to 10 years’ jail and been fined.
