A 27-year-old man has been jailed for refusing to return more than S$9,000 mistakenly transferred to him by Nanyang Technological University (NTU).
Mohamed Basheer Hanif Mohamed had instead spent the money on a hotel staycation as well as daily living expenses, according to court documents reported on by Channel NewsAsia (CNA).
On 10 Nov 2023, an NTU finance officer said the university had mistakenly transferred S$9,087.04 into Basheer’s POSB bank account.
On the same day, Basheer noticed the sum in his account, which previously had no money.
Source: POSB Bank. Photo for illustration purposes only.
But instead of alerting NTU or the bank, he withdrew the funds for his own use.
He reportedly spent the money on a hotel staycation as well as daily living expenses.
The NTU finance officer and POSB attempted to contact Basheer multiple times about the error but were unsuccessful.
On 21 Nov 2023, the finance officer finally reached him via email.
However, Basheer replied that he was not aware of the transfer, claiming he had stopped using the account.
He also refused to provide his latest phone number and address when requested, and told the finance officer to stop contacting him.
Source: Nanyang Technological University
No restitution was made.
In court on Friday (26 Dec), Basheer pleaded guilty to one charge of dishonest misappropriation.
During the hearing, the court asked if an NTU representative was present, and a woman stepped forward.
But it was later found that she was not an NTU representative, but actually Basheer’s wife.
Appearing via video link without legal representation, Basheer said he had been remanded since October as he was unable to pay the bail amount.
He and his wife also lived in a rental flat, and they were struggling financially, he added.
Professing to be remorseful, he assured the judge that he would not reoffend upon release.
The prosecution left sentencing to the court, noting that Basheer was a first-time offender.
He was eventually jailed for 12 weeks. He could have been jailed for up to two years and/or fined for the offence.
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Featured image adapted from Nanyang Technological University.