Updated: 10/30/2013 14:41 | By Channel NewsAsia
Ex-ATM repairman jailed 4 months for cheating bank
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SINGAPORE: A former repairman of ATM machines has been sentenced to four months' jail for cheating DBS Bank of S$13,000.
27-year-old Johnaton Choo Wei'En had been employed as a field engineer with D & S Solutions, which was a sub-contractor of NCR Singapore Pte Ltd.
He was hired to provide maintenance to DBS and POSB automated teller machines (ATMs) and cash deposit machines.
Choo would be sent in when bank cards are retained in ATMs or when customers' cash is not deposited into their accounts.
In December 2011, he was found out when the bank discovered that there were two similar claims of the same amount.
This was for jammed cash deposits at a machine in Toa Payoh.
Choo had pretended that he was the one who deposited the cash but did not realise that the customer had also made a claim for the jammed cash.
Subsequently, the bank discovered that between May and December 2011, Choo had made nine fraudulent claims.
He would do so after carrying out maintenance on the machines.
As Choo had to retrieve the cash that was jammed in the machine, he would know the exact amount to claim.
The bank would then deposit the claim amount into his account.
In sentencing, District Judge Low Wee Ping said a custodial sentence is warranted despite the fact Choo had made full restitution.
The judge explained that this was because Choo had pre-meditation and he pointed to the sophistication of the crime.
He said Choo knew how to deceive the bank and went on to do so.
Still, Judge Low took the repayment into consideration and sentenced him to two months' jail on two of three proceeded charges.
The sentence for a third charge was to run concurrently.
Choo is appealing against the sentence. - CNA/xq
