Maid spends S$15.5K that was wrongly deposited into her POSB account by insurance company

SINGAPORE: A domestic worker received over S$17,000 in her account due to an error from an insurance company. However, instead of alerting the company about the mistake, she spent the bulk of it, including flying home to the Philippines.

For one count of dishonest misappropriation, Micmic Cyndy, 34, received a six-week jail sentence on Thursday (Feb 1), according to a CNA report.

On July 24, 2023, Tokio Marine Life Insurance Singapore was contacted by a policyholder over payment for medical claims that he never received.

When the company checked on the matter, it found out that a total of S$17,151.69 had been deposited into the POSB account of the helper between June 8, 2023, and July 27, 2023, on five separate occasions. The first payment, S$15,499.73, had been the biggest.

But Cyndy withdrew S$15,560.35 from the account and went home to the Philippines from June 29, 2023, to July 7, 2023.

DBS Bank, the parent company of POSB, reached out to Cyndy in August through a letter, saying she needed to return the amount deposited to her account by mistake.

As she had already spent the bulk of the money, she could not do so. The helper agreed, however, that the remainder of S$1,591.34 should be transferred to the man who had filed the insurance claim.

Since Tokio Marine Life Insurance Singapore could not recover what Cyndy had already misappropriated, the company filed a police report against the domestic helper, who had not made any other restitution.

The prosecutor in the case pointed out that the total sum Cyndy had spent was significant, as she had spent S$15,560.35 in all, and that she had not paid any of this money back.

He also asked for a jail sentence for the helper but did not recommend a specific length of time. Cyndy could have ended up in jail for as long as two years, been made to pay a fine, or both for dishonest misappropriation.

Other helpers have also gotten into hot water in the past few months, getting handed jail sentences for their offences.

In early November, an Indonesian helper who withdrew S$88,600 from the bank account of the 95-year-old father of her employer received a 15-month jail sentence after she was found guilty of one count of criminal breach of trust by dishonest misappropriation.

Less than a week later, an Indonesian maid who stole jewellery and a Rolex watch costing tens of thousands of dollars also received a 15-month jail sentence after pleading guilty to one count of theft as a servant. /TISG

Read also: Maid steals employer’s diamond jewellery, gold, and Rolex watch worth over S$57K