Ex-OCBC Bank Teller Steals Nearly S$10K For Gambling Habit, Gets 26 Weeks’ Jail

Former Bank Teller At OCBC Jailed 26 Weeks For Stealing Almost S$10K

Certain occupations require individuals to carry out their roles with integrity. However, not all of them may do so, exploiting their positions instead.

An ex-OCBC bank teller was recently found guilty of such a crime. Zechariah Wong An Yi, 26, misappropriated S$10,000 of bank funds for his own gambling habit.

As a result, he received a jail term of 26 weeks. The maximum punishment for such an offence is 30 years in prison.

Former OCBC bank teller stole nearly S$10K

Channel NewsAsia (CNA) reported that on 25 Apr, Wong pleaded guilty to one count of a criminal breach of trust. The courts considered four other charges before sentencing him to 26 weeks in prison.

Wong reportedly misappropriated a total of S$9,989 from OCBC to fund a persistent gambling habit.

He did this by stealing from a cash bag that he received at the beginning of each shift. He was supposed to transfer the money into his teller drawer.

Wong would then forge the signatures of his father and a friend on forms to withdraw money from their accounts and replace the missing money.

Source: Google Maps

Wong took S$7,300 from his father’s account and S$2,189 from his friend’s. He also took S$500 from the cash bag to put into his friend’s account, stated CNA.

Court documents apparently mentioned that neither his father nor his friend expects Wong to return the stolen money.

Between 1 Oct to 28 Nov 2019, Wong repeatedly took a few hundred dollars from the cash bag. He would use the money to place bets on football matches.

Investigations into his activities began after Wong told a colleague he had taken money from his cash bag. When he asked if he could borrow S$3,800 to replace it, she declined his request and raised the issue to their branch supervisor.

Severe breach of OCBC’s public trust

According to The Straits Times (ST), Wong’s lawyer urged for a probation suitability report as there was a link between Wong’s gambling disorder and his crime. In addition, Wong was allegedly harassed by loan sharks at the time of the offence.

In response, Deputy Public Prosecutor Samyata Ravindran argued that Wong’s actions severely undermined the public trust put into such individuals and the financial institutions that employ them.

Source: Can Pac Swire on Flickr

District Judge Ronald Gwee agreed with the assessment of the severity of Wong’s crimes, which the accused had covered up.

Judge Gwee added that although the bank did not suffer any monetary loss, Wong’s way of restoring the money was not the right move.

For the criminal breach of trust while under employment by OCBC as a bank teller, Wong faced a jail term of up to 30 years in addition to a fine. Ultimately, he received a prison term of 26 weeks.

Such offences undermine public institutions

Crimes involving a breach of trust like this are severe as they undermine the integrity of public institutions.

When operating in such positions, we should take care to act with as much honesty as possible. Doing otherwise risks harming the reputation of Singapore’s legal processes.

Hopefully, Wong learns his lesson from this incident and will refrain from engaging in such activities again in the future.

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Featured image adapted from CapitaLand.