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SINGAPORE – Between 2022 and 2025, a woman placed food orders totalling more than $9,000 at two restaurants by using fake PayNow screenshots.<\/p>\n
Filipino Santos-Tumalip Maria Monalyn Bagaporo, 33, was sentenced to one year and 11 months\u2019 jail on Nov 13 after she pleaded guilty to four charges, including cheating and theft. <\/p>\n
Another three charges were taken into consideration for sentencing.<\/p>\n
Court documents showed that Bagaporo first started ordering food from House of Seafood restaurant, located in Joo Chiat, in May 2022.<\/p>\n
She would place her order directly on the restaurant\u2019s website and select PayNow as the payment method.<\/p>\n
Instead of transferring the money to the restaurant\u2019s bank account, Bagaporo would transfer the exact amount of money to herself.<\/p>\n
She would then take a screenshot of the transaction and use a photo editing app to edit the screenshot to reflect that the money had been sent to the restaurant for the order.<\/p>\n
In some of the screenshots, she even edited the details of the sender account so it would appear as if she was making payments from different accounts.<\/p>\n
The restaurant manager would review the screenshots to confirm that the payment amount and transfer date matched the order, but did not cross-check the restaurant\u2019s bank records to verify if the payment had been received.<\/p>\n
Bagaporo did this 35 times between May 2022 and August 2023, and cheated the restaurant of $3,891.75. <\/p>\n
\u201cShe did so because she wanted to order food for her friends and impress them,\u201d Deputy Public Prosecutor Tan Jing Min told the court. <\/p>\n
Her offences came to light only on Sept 2, 2023, when the restaurant manager reviewed the business\u2019 bank statements.<\/p>\n
DPP Tan added that Bagaporo has since made full restitution to House of Seafood.<\/p>\n
Between June 2024 and May 2025, Bagaporo used the same modus operandi to make 24 separate food orders worth $6,167.52 at Baci Baci, an Italian restaurant located in Serangoon Garden. <\/p>\n
She has not made restitution to the restaurant, the court heard. <\/p>\n
Some time in 2025, Bagaporo also cheated Johwa Hair & Living, a hair salon located at the Capitol Kempinski Hotel, by purchasing a hair treatment voucher, valued at $381.50, with a doctored PayNow screenshot.<\/p>\n
On June 8, she visited the hair salon to redeem the voucher. <\/p>\n
She tried to purchase a second hair treatment voucher on the same day as well, but was denied when the director of the salon realised that the payment had not been made.<\/p>\n
He also realised that the salon had not received payment for the first voucher.<\/p>\n
The salon\u2019s employees repeatedly reminded Bagaporo to make payment over the following weeks, but she would give excuses for why she could not pay.<\/p>\n
The salon director lodged a police report in July. <\/p>\n
On Nov 27, 2024, Bagaporo visited Giant supermarket at Block 348 Bedok Road, where she stole 31 items worth $738.76. <\/p>\n
The items included snacks, meat, vegetables and personal care items. <\/p>\n
She entered the supermarket with a trolley bag and two tote bags, and paid for five other items at a self-service kiosk.<\/p>\n
A supermarket staff member noticed Bagaporo behaving suspiciously and asked her to follow him into his office, where he checked her bags and found the stolen items.<\/p>\n
The prosecution asked for a jail sentence of between 23\u00bd months and 27 months for Bagaporo, highlighting that her flagrant and recalcitrant offending behaviour must be met with a commensurate sentence. <\/p>\n
For cheating, an offender can be jailed for up to 10 years, fined, or both. <\/p>\n
For theft, an offender can be jailed for up to seven years and fined. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n