Jail for woman who used former colleagues' data to get free masks

A former human resource staff member of an engineering company obtained her then colleagues' personal data without their consent and later used their particulars to unlawfully collect 108 face masks from vending machines in 2020.

Koh Pek Keang, who was employed by G-Tech Engineering from 2000 to 2014, committed the offences as she did not want to fork out extra cash to buy face masks for her family.

The court heard that she unlawfully obtained 54 packs containing 108 masks and 162 filters, worth nearly $650 in all.

Yesterday, she was sentenced to 16 weeks' jail after she pleaded guilty to a cheating charge.

Koh, 43, also admitted to retaining the personal data of 60 G-Tech employees which she had obtained without their consent.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Jeremy Bin said that during Koh's tenure as a human resource staff member, she managed the personal data of the company's employees.

The information included their identity card or foreign identification numbers.

The DPP added: "Throughout the accused's employment as a human resource personnel, she concealed the fact that she retained a complete database of the employees' personal data for purposes beyond the scope of her job.

"She continued to retain updated databases of the employees' personal data until, at earliest, September 2014, shortly before she ceased working for G-Tech."

Six years later, in 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic began and Singapore investment company Temasek started a nationwide mask distribution exercise.

Each resident could collect one free mask kit from vending machines between Nov 30 and Dec 13, 2020, by keying his personal particulars into the machines.

Koh decided to redeem more face masks than she was entitled to by using the data of G-Tech employees that she had retained.

She also printed out information on at least 54 sheets of paper - each containing the personal data of an employee.

Koh then drove to Clementi Community Centre on Nov 30, 2020, and collected masks that her former colleagues were entitled to from the vending machines there.

Her offences came to light when five people later filed separate police reports stating they could not redeem their free face masks from designated vending machines.