After discovering she was pregnant, the secretary of a Singapore company embezzled $63,000 of company funds over a two-month period to pay for her childbirth expenses.
Shen Shimin (transliterated) was the secretary of Ossia International Ltd at the time of the incident, reported Shin Min Daily News. The 30-year-old faces four charges, including breach of trust and forgery. She has pleaded guilty to three charges, with a fourth charge to be taken into consideration.
Responsible for safeguarding company’s bank accounts
As the company’s secretary, Shen managed the firm’s bank accounts and was entrusted with the physical security token used to access them.
On May 4, 2024, she discovered she was six and a half months pregnant and was caught off guard by the news. She feared she would not be able to afford the childbirth expenses, and subsequently concocted a plan to misappropriate the company’s funds.
Between May 7 and July 24, 2024, Shen transferred a total of $63,000 of company funds into her personal bank account on 12 separate occasions.
Shen began her maternity leave on July 1, but kept delaying the handover of the security token to her fellow colleagues — raising her manager’s suspicions.
On July 24, Shen’s manager asked her to hand over the security token under the guise of handling an urgent matter. While checking the company’s bank accounts the next day, her manager was shocked to discover her crime and called the police.
When her crime came to light, Shen sent an email to her manager promising to make a full repayment of the stolen funds within two years. However, at the time of sentencing, she had not made any compensation to the company.
Forged company bank statements
While Shen was on maternity leave, the company asked her to hand over her work to a colleague in July 2024.
Using a company-issued laptop, she altered and forged bank statements for May, June, and July 2024, deleting records of the illegal transfers and modifying the deposit balances on the statements in an attempt to cover up her crime and deceive the authorities.
Shen was sentenced to 18 months in prison.
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