Woman duped restaurants for 59 free meals worth over $10k

That means she managed to get 59 meals worth a combined $10,059.27 from both restaurants.

Cried tears of joy when sentence successfully reduced

Maria appealed her original sentence at the High Court on Friday, represented pro bono by Sujesh Anandan, son of prominent lawyer Subhas Anandan.

Sujesh argued that the original sentence was too harsh, pointing to previous cases involving higher amounts or more instances of cheating that had received lighter sentences.

He proposed a seven-month jail term for the cheating charge.

The prosecution objected, arguing that seven months was too low and that the original sentence should stand.

High Court Judge Kanangaram Ramesh said previous cases showed that the imprisonment term for the amount involved in Maria’s case would generally range from three to six months.

However, the judge noted that Maria’s method of cheating was simple and that she had not gone to lengths to conceal her identity.

At the same time, she had committed further offences while on bail, which warranted a significant sentence.

The judge eventually allowed the appeal and reduced the sentence for the cheating charge from 18 months to eight months.

Her total jail term was therefore reduced from 21 months and eight weeks to 11 months and eight weeks.

Maria and her sister, who was in court to support her, cried tears of joy after hearing the decision.

She repeatedly thanked her lawyer after the hearing.

Allowed to return home to give birth

Maria was pregnant while the case was being investigated and was granted permission to return to the Philippines to give birth in 2023.

She delivered her baby in January 2024, returning to Singapore with her newborn shortly after giving birth to continue with investigations.

Sujesh also told the court that Maria had since made full restitution and demonstrated genuine remorse.

He added that she had cooperated with investigators.

Maria has been remanded since Sept 8, 2025, and has been separated from her infant child for several months.

The defence asked the court to take her circumstances into consideration and allow her to return home to reunite with her child as soon as possible.

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