For most working adults, repaying our parents for their sacrifices is a top priority — especially if they’re in advanced age.
One woman in Singapore did the opposite by depleting the three joint accounts she shared with her elderly mother.
Over the span of two years, she reportedly transferred out more than S$130,000 worth of her parents’ life savings.
Source: Shin Min Daily News on Facebook
Though the aged mother has lodged a police report, the authority’s advice was to get lawyers involved.
According to Shin Min Daily News, the woman, Madam Chen, first opened the three joint accounts with her daughter in May 2021.
She had deposited a total of S$180,000 into the accounts.
Madam Chen first noted that something was amiss on 26 June when she received her bank statement.
The 73-year-old discovered that one of her accounts, which originally held S$85,007, only had S$180 left.
When she checked the other two accounts, she found that they had also been depleted.
One account, which initially had S$19,999 inside, was completely wiped out.
Meanwhile, the third account only had about S$61 left when there was supposed to be S$76,174.
Source: Shin Min Daily News on Facebook
Speaking to Shin Min Daily News, Madam Chen said, “The money was saved by my husband and I through working hard all our lives.”
She explained that it was in the couple’s joint account before being transferred to the three accounts with her daughter.
After some investigations, Madam Chen found out that her youngest daughter was behind the large transfers.
Shin Min Daily News noted that the elderly woman believes her daughter ran into problems with the frozen seafood company she started with her husband in 2021.
When she asked for transfer records from the bank, Madam Chen discovered that her daughter had been transferring money out since June 2021.
Source: Shin Min Daily News on Facebook
She reportedly transferred funds to her company’s employees and suppliers, as well as directly to her husband.
Although Madam Chen has lodged a police report, the authorities said they can’t do anything about it as they are joint accounts.
Instead, they advised her to get a lawyer to settle the dispute.
Of course, Madam Chen has also reached out to her youngest daughter.
Though the latter allegedly admitted to using the money and claimed that she would “pay it back slowly”, Madam Chen has her reservations.
Ms Zhuo, Madam Chen’s eldest daughter, shared that her mother worked as a dishwasher for 30 years.
Meanwhile, her father, whose health deteriorated a few years ago and is currently bedridden, operated a boat.
“I didn’t expect my sister to take their money,” said Ms Zhuo.
When the family found out about the large withdrawals, it put a strain on their relationship with the younger sister.
The latter has purportedly been ignoring her mother’s messages as well.
“The reason we are going public with this is so they can come forward and we can discuss how they can pay our mother back,” Ms Zhuo explained, referring to her sister and brother-in-law.
Source: Shin Min Daily News
In fact, Ms Zhuo claims that things haven’t felt right ever since her sister got together with her now-husband in 2021.
Not only were his own divorce proceedings incomplete when they started dating, but he rarely visited his in-laws, leading them to form a poor impression of him.
Hopefully, the dispute will be settled soon and the family will be able to move on from the incident.
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Featured image adapted from Shin Min Daily News on Facebook.
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