Cook kept $83,458 paid out by mistake
Elena Chong
The Straits Times
Monday, Jan 20, 2014
SINGAPORE - When a cook received his monthly pay cheque in early January last year, he initially thought he had an unexpected windfall of more than $80,000.
But Azan Ibrahim, 38, who was then earning $834.58 a month working for Insomnia Live Music, was actually overpaid by $82,623 due to an oversight by a former colleague.
Azan realised that he was not entitled to the amount but chose to keep mum about it. He spent some of the money on a Samsung Galaxy Tab and necessities.
The former colleague had made a mistake when preparing Azan's pay cheque by typing $83,458 instead of $834.58 on Dec 31, 2012.
Azan received the cheque from his manager on Jan 2 last year. He deposited it into his POSB Bank account in Tampines Central the next day.
The manager realised the mistake on Jan 7 and tried to contact Azan to no avail. She then lodged a police report. Three days later, Azan was arrested.
He subsequently returned $75,800 to the company, but did not pay back the remaining outstanding amount of $6,823.
Yesterday, Azan, who was unrepresented, was fined $9,000 after he admitted to misappropriation. He could not pay the fine and will serve a default sentence of three weeks' jail.
In mitigation, Azan apologised for his mistake. He said he was supporting his mother who has kidney failure and is undergoing dialysis. He could have been jailed for up to two years and/or fined.
