Woman admits pocketing over $1.8m while working as company director’s personal assistant

SINGAPORE – A personal assistant to a director of a hire-purchase company misappropriated more than $1.8 million over nearly seven years – from June 2010 to April 2017.

On Jan 12, Judy Teh Mui Eng, 60, pleaded guilty to multiple counts of forgery and dealing with the benefits of her criminal conduct. She has since made full restitution to MBH Hire Purchase.

More than 100 other charges will be considered during her sentencing in March.

While Teh was employed as a personal assistant at the company, her responsibilities included preparing payment vouchers and cheques payable to her boss’ brother, who was also a director there.

In 2010, she hatched a plan to misappropriate the company’s money, said Deputy Public Prosecutor Yee Jia Rong.

Between June that year and March 2015, she prepared cheques with the payee name as either a credit card company or a bank.

She then presented the cheques to her boss, falsely claiming that his brother had asked for advance payments.

Her boss signed the cheques and the corresponding payment vouchers that were in his brother’s name.

Teh then added her own particulars to the back of the cheques, before depositing them into accounts, including those linked to her bank.

In December 2014, she found out that her boss’ brother had cancelled accounts linked to his bank and a credit card company.

She then hatched a new scheme to continue misappropriating MBH’s funds.

From December 2014 to April 2017, she used a pen with erasable ink to prepare cheques with the payee name indicated as Premium Automobile – a company linked to her boss and his brother.

She then passed the cheques to her boss, who signed them.

She also prepared corresponding payment vouchers in his brother’s name, with the payment details indicated as “advance to director”. Her boss also signed the vouchers.

The DPP said: “Thereafter, the accused would erase the payee name and replace it with the names of companies that she was a director of, including Innova Alliance, Rejoice Entertainment, and The Chillout Place.

“The accused would also dispose of the payment voucher indicating that the payee was Premium (Automobile).”

Teh deposited the other cheques soon after, causing the bank to process the payments from MBH to Innova, Rejoice and Chillout.

Court documents stated that she used the money to settle her family expenses and finance her personal businesses.

The DPP said that Teh’s boss discovered her offences in May 2017 and MBH launched an internal investigation.

He lodged a police report in February 2018, and Teh was charged in court three years later.