Woman accused of lying about meeting ex-DBS CEO Piyush Gupta says LinkedIn post made by social media manager

SINGAPORE: A LinkedIn user who went viral for her post on a “chance encounter” with former DBS CEO Piyush Gupta alleged that it was put up by her social media manager, who has demanded money to remove it.

The now-deleted post containing false content was deliberately put up without her permission in order to attract traffic, Ms Janney Hujic told 8World News on Saturday (May 24). 

Her freelance social media manager, based in the Philippines, later demanded S$5,000 in order to take the post down, she said.

The manager later also purportedly changed the login details for the account.

“When I get paid I give you back access,” read a screenshot of a conversation seen by 8World. 

WHAT HAPPENED

Ms Hujic drew criticism earlier this week after she appeared to have posted on LinkedIn about meeting the ex-banking chief at a cafe in Bali. 

The post, titled “A chance encounter with the ex-CEO of DBS – in the last place I expected”, recounted their brief conversation where Ms Hujic spoke about her upcoming all-women expedition in Mongolia in support of the Goh Chok Tong Enable Fund. 

Accompanying the post was a photo of Ms Hujic with a man in a floral shirt, said to be Mr Gupta. 

However, this was quickly debunked by Mr Gupta himself, who commented on the post to clarify: “Sorry to disillusion you. That isn’t me!”

In the immediate aftermath, the man in the photo – Kumar H Subramaniam – weighed in and said that he told Ms Hujic and her friend upfront that it was a case of mistaken identity. 

He said in a Facebook comment that he was approached by Ms Hujic and her male companion, who said they both had worked at DBS. She asked for a photo and the trio joked about pranking her friends. 

Mr Kumar also said that he never agreed for his picture to be used to promote any business or social ventures. 

Ms Hujic told 8World that she later sent the photo to a group chat with friends and also shared it on Instagram with a caption jokingly alluding to the resemblance between Mr Kumar and Mr Gupta.

By then, her post had attracted widespread attention and derision, with many calling it “peak LinkedIn” in reference to the performative and superficial gestures associated with the social media networking platform. 

NO INTERNET ACCESS

Ms Hujic said she was initially unaware of the LinkedIn post as she was in Vietnam for a cave exploration trip and did not have internet access.

She went on the trip on Monday. When she eventually had internet access on Saturday evening, Ms Hujic said she could no longer log into her LinkedIn and Instagram accounts.

Ms Hujic provided 8World with screenshots of messages between her partner and the social media manager.

The social media manager purportedly said: “Post has over 6k engagement. Pay me 5k SGD and I take down."

Ms Hujic said her social media manager was paid S$1 for every like on a post, and was hired in March this year at the recommendation of a friend. 

She added that her partner has since paid the manager a sum of money - she did not specify how much - but that they were still unable to access her social media accounts. 

FUNDRAISING 

Ms Hujic also sought to clarify her fundraising involvement with the Goh Chok Tong Enable Fund (GCTEF) - a community fund that aims to provide people with disabilities the opportunities to actively contribute to society. 

The organisation said in a statement on Friday that it was aware of claims made by Ms Hujic, through her company Elysian Expeditions, regarding a fundraising effort. 

“We reached out to Ms Hujic on May 21, 2025 to seek clarifications about the fundraising campaign and to date, we have not received a response from her or Elysian Expeditions.

“We would like to inform the public that Ms Hujic and Elysian Expeditions are not authorised fundraising partners of SG Enable, and we have not endorsed their fundraising campaign. The GCTEF logo and fundraising messages on their website are used without our knowledge and permission.”

Ms Hujic told 8World that she had applied for authorisation to raise funds for GCTEF in her company’s name.

However, she had yet to clarify the relationship between the expedition plan and her company, she said, adding that she has responded to their latest email to clarify the matter after reading it on Saturday.