Prosecution seeks deterrent sentence for man who pocketed public funds

SINGAPORE — Pressing for a deterrent sentence of six years’ jail for a former officer with a Social Service Office (SSO) who pocketed more than S$340,000 in funds meant for the needy, the prosecution on Friday (Dec 9) argued that there is a need to send a clear signal that public servants who steal public funds will be dealt with sternly. 

Chia Kwang Hee, 33, who had used the money to fund luxury shopping sprees and pay off his debts, pleaded guilty to 19 out of 126 charges, including criminal breach of trust and transferring benefits of his criminal conduct.

Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Chong Yonghui told the district court that Chia’s actions had eroded the public’s confidence in government bodies.

Chia, who joined the SSO at Geylang Serai in July 2013, helped assess applications for financial assistance and disburse monies from the Community Care (ComCare) endowment fund to low-income and needy individuals.

Between 2011 and 2013, he misappropriated a total of S$343,780 meant as financial aid for 42 needy families. The amount included S$199,460 worth of cheques which he encashed.

His offences came to light after a beneficiary told the Ministry for Social Development that he had not received his aid payment. Chia was arrested in August 2014.

DPP Chong said the length of time during which Chia committed the offences was also an aggravating factor, and that he had carefully implemented his plans “to ensure that he could continue to enrich himself at public expense”.

DPP Chong noted that sometime in December 2013, when Chia could no longer cash in cheques as payments to beneficiaries were made via Giro, he resorted to entering his own bank account details, instead of those belonging to beneficiaries, on the SANet, a computer system used by SSO officers to administer ComCare funds.

He had also misused his system administrator rights to reset the passwords of other SSO officers, allowing him to access their SANet accounts and approve the cases that he had submitted. This meant that monies meant for beneficiaries went to Chia’s bank account instead.

Defence lawyer Irving Choh, who asked for a jail sentence of not more than two-and-a-half years, argued that Chia was a first-time offender with a clean record, and that he was driven to commit the offences because of his family’s dire financial situation.

However, the DPP stressed that Chia’s offences “were a betrayal of the position of trust he obtained as a result of his clean record”.

Chia will be sentenced on Dec 22.