SINGAPORE — Even after he was caught red-handed by a company staff member, gas deliveryman Chen Xiwen kept taking money from his employer by pocketing cash payments made by customers for the gas cylinders he delivered.

The 44-year-old from China, who worked for Mega Gas Enterprise and its subsidiary SHH Gas, was sentenced to nine months' jail on Wednesday (Aug 2) after pleading guilty to misappropriating more than S$31,000.

As a deliveryman, Chen was tasked with delivering gas cylinders to commercial businesses such as restaurants and hawker centres, as well as conducting routine checks and replacements.

The court heard that he was also responsible for the collection of payments from customers who would either pay cash on delivery or through a credit arrangement with the companies.

Both the company and its subsidiary used an invoice system to log payments from its customers. 

From an invoice booklet, Chen would issue an original white copy of the invoice to the customer, who did not need to sign or provide any form of acknowledgement when payment is made.

A yellow carbon copy of the invoice would be filed by the companies for record-keeping purposes and a blue carbon copy would be retained in the invoice booklet.

Chen would typically submit a red carbon copy of the invoice to the companies' accounting department only after he had collected payment from the customer.

WHAT HAPPENED

Police investigations revealed that Chen had collected payments from customers on 88 occasions without accounting to the companies.

Over six months from December 2022 to May 2023, he misappropriated about S$31,713 by retaining the red carbon copy of the invoice and reporting that the customer had failed to make payment on time, Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Janessa Phua said.

Chen then dishonestly took the customers' payment for his own use, and would also conceal his actions by using payments from other customers to account for the outstanding amounts.

He would then use the money he pocketed to finance what DPP Phua said was a "lavish" lifestyle, involving drinking, gambling habits and overseas trips, court documents stated.

His deeds were discovered after an internal investigation was done by the companies' accounting department in March this year.

But even after he was caught and given multiple opportunities to return the outstanding payments, he continued to misappropriate large amounts of money.

A police report was then made by a human resource manager in May and Chen was arrested on May 31.

During submissions for a more lenient sentence, he told the court that this lesson has left a deep impression on him and he now realises how "helpless and scary" it is that he has "lost his freedom".

He pleaded with District Judge Lau Qiuyu for a lighter sentence than the prosecution's proposed nine to 12 months, so that he could return to China to see his family.

For each count of misappropriating company money, Chen could have been jailed up to 15 years and fined.