Ex-social worker who siphoned off $47k faces fresh charge

Joney Song Siang Siang, who earlier pleaded guilty to two criminal breach of trust charges, now faces another count.
Joney Song Siang Siang, who earlier pleaded guilty to two criminal breach of trust charges, now faces another count.

A former medical social worker, who siphoned off more than $47,000 from the bank accounts of two elderly nursing home residents, is now accused of misappropriating another $4,200 from seven more alleged victims.

A district court heard yesterday that Joney Song Siang Siang had been entrusted with seven cheques from the Central Provident Fund Board under the Silver Support Scheme, which provides retirement assistance for people who have had low incomes throughout their lives.

According to court documents relating to the latest charge, she allegedly encashed the cheques in July 2017 and kept the money, which amounted to $4,200.

She told the court yesterday that she will plead guilty to this charge and intends to make full restitution to the seven alleged victims.

Prior to this, Song, 38, who worked at the Grace Lodge nursing home in Compassvale Walk from June 1 to Aug 11, 2017, pleaded guilty on May 31 to two criminal breach of trust charges.

Her two victims, Mr Ho Park Tong, 77, and Mr Han Lee Fong, 80, were under her care when she persuaded them to activate their ATM cards.

Song accompanied the pair during the activation process and noted down their personal identification numbers.

She went to several ATMs around Singapore in July that year to withdraw cash and make transfers from the victims' bank accounts.

The court heard that from July 3 to 17, 2017, Song misappropriated nearly $40,700 from Mr Ho's account.

She also accessed Mr Han's account from July 27 to 29 that year to perform 23 transfers and withdrawals totalling nearly $7,000.

Song then threw away the cards after committing the offences and resigned from her job.

Her offences came to light in January last year when her replacement checked the two victims' bank statements and spotted suspicious transactions.

The police were alerted on Jan 25 last year, the court heard.

To date, Song has paid $45,000 in restitution.

She is now out on bail of $15,000 and will be back in court on Aug 27.

For each count of criminal breach of trust, she can be jailed for up to seven years and fined.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on July 26, 2019, with the headline Ex-social worker who siphoned off $47k faces fresh charge. Subscribe