Married woman, 75, jailed for opening bank account on behalf of 'online boyfriend'

SINGAPORE — A 75-year-old married woman was sentenced to five weeks' jail on Oct 22 after she opened a bank account on behalf of her "online boyfriend" whom she had met on WhatsApp.

Kang Pue Hua then received nearly $260,000 in her account from suspicious sources.

Separately, she also lied to the police that she had lost her automated teller machine (ATM) card linked to another account.

In reality, she had handed it to her "boyfriend", known as "John Lee Marina", whose actual identity remains unknown.

Public defender Vadi P.V.S.S. had earlier asked the court to either call for a report to assess Kang's suitability for probation or sentence her to not more than two weeks' jail.

He told Deputy Principal District Judge Ong Chin Rhu that Kang had also been scammed of $20,000.

Vadi added that Kang's husband was suffering from multiple health issues and "John" had promised to help her and her spouse.

However, on Oct 22, Judge Ong said that probation was not appropriate in this case and that deterrence is the key sentencing consideration for Kang's offences.

The judge also stressed that the case involved the deception of financial institutions.

Kang's husband, who was seated in the gallery, burst into tears after Judge Ong handed out the sentence.

[[nid:696397]]

In May, Kang pleaded guilty to one count of cheating as she had deceived the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) into believing that she was the sole operator of her account.

She also pleaded guilty to a second charge — performing an act that could pervert the course of justice by lying to a police officer.

Kang's legal woes started some time before December 2021 when she got to know "John", who claimed to be a Singaporean and had lived in the United States for many years before returning home.

He told her to open a bank account on his behalf. She agreed, and visited an ICBC branch in Ang Mo Kio on Dec 24, 2021.

Kang then declared in the application form that she would have sole control of the account.

However, after the account was opened, she arranged for an ATM card linked to it to be mailed to "John". She also sent him the corresponding personal identification number (Pin) via WhatsApp.

From Dec 27, 2021, to Feb 25, 2022, unknown third parties used the account to make transactions, including nearly $260,000 of inward transfers that were considered suspicious.

According to court documents, Kang also had an account with OCBC Bank.

On Jan 3, 2022, a person identified as Goh lodged a police report stating that she had transferred $10,300 to Kang's OCBC account as instructed by a man known as "Kelvin Lin".

Court documents did not disclose the reasons behind the transaction.

Kang went to the Bishan Neighbourhood Police Centre on March 16, 2022, and lied in her statement that she had lost her OCBC ATM card, when she had actually handed it to "John".

She was charged in court in 2023.

[[nid:705773]]

This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.