Ex-SingTel retail executive jailed for misappropriating 89 mobile phones

A former retail executive of SingTel who misappropriated $100,088 worth of mobile phones from her employer over two years was jailed for 18 months on Monday.

Rushidah Yusoff, 33, had pleaded guilty to two of three charges of criminal breach of trust involving 89 smartphones worth $86,072 between 2011 and 2012.

A third similar charge involving 13 phones was taken into consideration.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Francis Zhang said the offences came to light when a retail operations manager at SingTel's shop in Comcentre, Exeter Road found four mobile phones missing from the inventory after stock-taking on Oct 7, 2012.

Further checks revealed that the phones were withdrawn by Rushidah using her staff identification code.

When confronted two days later, she admitted misappropriating the mobile phones due to financial difficulties. She had sold them to various mobile phone dealers in Toa Payoh.

During an interview, she stated that she had been misappropriating mobile phones since September 2011 and had taken eight. But further investigation showed that unaccounted mobile phones without accompanying contracts had been traced to her staff ID since 2010.

She would use existing customers' mobile numbers to perform contract renewals and equipment upgrades or apply for new mobile numbers to withdraw the phones from the inventory system.

Rushidah, who was dismissed on Oct 16, 2012, misappropriated 46 phones worth $45,078 in 2011, and 43 phones worth $43,994 between Jan 15 and Oct 5, 2012.

To date, she has made restitution of $1,865.

She could have been jailed for up to 15 years on each charge of criminal breach of trust as a servant.

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