Jail for ex-SAF captain who set up a ‘heist’ to steal S$2.3 million in cryptocurrency from acquaintance

Four days later, Mr Xuan invited Teo and their mutual friend to his condominium to watch a football match. Teo arrived first followed by the mutual friend about 30 minutes later, who messaged that he needed help to enter the unit.

Teo asked Mr Xuan for the condominium access card to pick up their friend and did not return it after.

On Dec 31, 2022, the three made plans to meet at the Marina Bay area for the New Year’s Eve countdown. Before that, Teo went to Mr Xuan’s unit and entered using the condominium access card, knowing that the other man would not be home.

Teo searched the place for Mr Xuan’s cold wallet before finding it in the bedroom, along with the paper containing the seed phrase in a box. He took a photo of the paper and left the house after putting back the items as they were.

He then met up with the two men as planned. The next day, on Jan 1, 2023, Teo used the seed phrase to withdraw the 1.7 million USDT from Mr Xuan’s cold wallet and transferred it to his own cryptocurrency wallet.

On Mar 23, 2023, Mr Xuan discovered the withdrawal and filed a police report. He also engaged a blockchain company that traced some fees to Teo’s cryptocurrency wallet.

When confronted, Teo confessed to stealing and said he did it because he suffered “huge monetary losses” from the FTX collapse. 

According to the court documents, Teo used the cryptocurrency he stole to buy luxury items such as watches and transferred some to an illegal gambling website. He also paid off his outstanding Housing and Development Board (HDB) housing loan with part of the criminal proceeds.

These payments to HDB were not recoverable, the court documents read. Teo also did not make any restitution to Mr Xuan, besides the proceeds that were recovered during investigations.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Jonathan Tan sought 7.5 to 8.5 years’ jail for Teo.

He noted that Teo stole almost S$2.3 million in a premeditated act of theft “entirely motivated by personal gain”.

Teo exploited his knowledge of cryptocurrency and its vulnerabilities to mislead Mr Xuan into believing that his cryptocurrency would be more securely stored in a cold wallet, said DPP Tan.

“Once he knew that the complainant would be depositing a significant sum of USDT in his cold wallet, he then took preparatory steps to set up his heist,” he added.

While he acknowledged that Teo displayed remorse and cooperated with authorities, he said it was due to the accused getting caught as the criminal proceeds were traced back to him.  

Deputy Principal District Judge Ong Chin Rhu said she considered the defence’s argument that the accused was suffering from significant psychological stress.

Referring to a report by the Institute of Mental Health, she said Teo was suffering from an adjustment disorder, but it was relatively mild and likely exacerbated post-offence.

The report also noted that the accused was aware of the nature of his offence and that the disorder had no contributory link with the offence.

She ruled that no mitigating weight should be accorded to this condition.

Judge Ong also accepted Teo’s request for a three-week deferment of his sentence.

Speaking on behalf of Teo, defence lawyer Gino Hardial Singh from Abbots Chambers, said the accused was in the process of arranging a pre-school for his 16-month-old child and bringing in a new maid to handle matters in his absence.

DPP Tan said he had no objections, given that the request was just for three weeks.

Teo remains out on S$130,000 bail and is expected to begin serving his sentence on May 29.

For each of his offences, he could have been jailed up to 10 years, fined or both.