SINGAPORE - Already caught for cheating, a 25-year-old man went rogue while out on police bail last year.
Citibank sales officer Jeremy Chong Zhen Wing abused his position and misappropriated a total of $35,000 in cash from three people, after offering to deposit the monies into their bank accounts.
On Wednesday (Dec 18), he was sentenced to 14 months' jail after pleading guilty to one count of criminal breach of trust.
The Singaporean, who is no longer working at the bank, committed the crime while he was out on police bail for unrelated cheating offences, which included deceiving two people in 2015 that he had for sale genuine e-tickets for that year's ZoukOut music festival.
For misappropriating the $35,000, Chong could have been jailed for up to 15 years and fined.
The court heard that on April 30 last year, a Mr Jim Cheah went to a Citibank branch in Jurong with $15,000 in cash to open an account.
Chong told him the daily deposit limit was $10,000, which was later deposited into Mr Cheah's account through an ATM machine.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Krystle Chiang said: "The accused told Jim he would help him deposit the remaining $5,000 into Jim's Citibank account at a later stage. Based on this assurance, Jim passed the accused $5,000 in cash."
Chong used the money to do forex trading, pay his debts and settle personal expenses.
The following month, he similarly targeted two more victims and misappropriated $30,000.
The DPP said Citi has made full restitution to the pair while Chong did the same for Mr Cheah. Chong also gave Citi $2,000 in restitution, the court heard.
The bank told The Straits Times on Wednesday: "We do not tolerate any criminal misconduct or actions that are against the policies of the bank."
As for his other offences, he had admitted to two cheating charges involving the ZoukOut tickets and one count of dishonest misappropriation of property.
In the case of the ZoukOut e-tickets, he duped one of his victims who transferred $380 to a bank account while the other transferred $400.
As for misappropriation of property, the court heard that Chong's mother found a mobile phone in a women's toilet at Jem shopping mall in Jurong on Sept 8 last year.
DPP Chiang said she handed the device to her son as she did not know what to do with her find and he sold it online for $700.
On Wednesday, he was offered bail of $20,000 and ordered to surrender himself at the State Courts on Dec 27 to start his jail term.
