SINGAPORE - A former bank executive was jailed for eight weeks on Tuesday for taking upskirt videos of women and having obscene films.

Maha Vignesh Velippan, 32, was working in a bank in 2011 when he insulted a person's modesty more than 90 times.

He was caught by a 27-year-old business relationship manager who felt something brush against her legs while she was on an escalator at Standard Chartered Bank Building in Battery Road. This happened at about 1.30pm on June 7, 2011.

She turned around and saw Maha Vignesh standing very close to her on the next step. He was holding a paper bag and his phone's camera lens was pointing at her.

She asked him to hand over his phone or threatened to call the police.

He eventually did so, and when she looked through the phone with her colleagues, she found an upskirt video of herself. Police were called.

Maha Vignesh admitted to 19 charges of making video recordings of women's inner thighs and panties at Raffles Place and other locations between 2008 and 2011, and one charge under the Films Act.

During investigations, police seized a portable hard disk from his Yishun Street 61 home containing 596 obscene films.

Seventy-five other charges of intruding into the privacy of women were considered.

Mr Rajan Supramaniam said his client, who later worked as a sales manager, suffered from voyeurism and sex addiction, and was making good progress in his psychiatric treatment.

The lawyer the main reason for his offences had been breaking up with his girlfriend.

Deputy Public Prosecutor John Lu called for a custodial sentence as a deterrent to others.

Maha Vignesh apologised in court, saying he was very ashamed of what he had done and had let his family, his colleagues and society down.

He could have been jailed for up to one year and/or fined for insulting modesty. The maximum penalty for having obscene film is a fine of at least $500 for each film up to $20,000, and six months' jail.