Jail for ex-NTUC Club assistant sales manager who cheated his employer of S$45,000

SINGAPORE — As part of his job, he was responsible for managing NTUC Club’s accounts and sales, but the former assistant sales manager cheated his employer of more than S$45,000 instead.

On Friday (April 21), Andy Levin, 49, pleaded guilty to one charge of criminal breach of trust by misappropriating money amounting to S$45,475.

Another charge of falsifying a paper as an employee was taken into consideration for sentencing.

District Judge Jasvender Kaur sentenced him to 13 months’ jail, which will begin on May 8. 

Levin, a Singaporean, transferred payment that was meant for NTUC Club to another company, Pizzazz Entertainment.

Though Pizzazz’s registered owner was his wife Pan Shi Ying, it was really Levin who helmed the business. 

Court documents showed that Pan’s role was mainly administrative in nature and she acted under Levin’s instructions.

She also handled the transfer of money in Pizzazz’s bank account according to Levin’s instructions.

WHAT HAPPENED

In May 2018, Mr Jeffrey Loh Jia Wei, the owner of events company Wicked Wallop Productions, approached NTUC Club to ask about holding a Pure & Crafted event on the club's premises. 

The event is an annual one to celebrate the customisation of motorcycles. NTUC Club is the leisure and entertainment arm of the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC).

Mr Luke Wong Sing Meng, assistant director of the corporate sales department of NTUC Club who received Mr Loh’s enquiry, assigned the event to be handled by Levin.

Levin then contacted Mr Loh to discuss the details and sent Mr Loh a draft contract on June 28, 2018.

The draft contract was for an event package to hold the Pure & Crafted event on Sept 22 and 23 in 2018 for S$45,475.

The package also included some property, goods and services belonging to NTUC Club, such as logistics support, sound and lighting system, and a staycation package at D’Resort in NTUC Club’s Downtown East, a recreational and entertainment hub in Pasir Ris. 

STOLE MONEY MEANT FOR NTUC CLUB

However, Levin planned a scheme to have Mr Loh make payment for the Pure & Crafted event to Pizzazz instead of NTUC Club, without the latter’s knowledge.

Between June and August 2018, Levin showed Mr Loh a quotation issued by Pizzazz, for an event package to hold the event.

The quotation covered some property, goods and services belonging to NTUC Club.

Levin informed Mr Loh that Pizzazz would help him in handling the event, including the application of licences, installation works and sourcing for food vendors for the event.

Mr Loh agreed to the Pizzazz quotation because he was under the impression that Pizzazz was a contractor for NTUC Club. He also trusted Levin since he was the club’s representative. 

Mr Loh then gave Levin two cheques amounting to a total of S$45,475.

However, instead of handing the money to NTUC Club, Levin transferred S$28,000 into his personal bank account and used the remaining amount for Pizzazz’s operations.

Mr Loh also asked Levin to provide him with 100 complimentary tickets to the Wild Wild Wet water park in Downtown East.

To obtain the tickets, Levin submitted a ticket order form on Sept 21, 2018 to Mr Wong of NTUC Club requesting the tickets worth S$963, which was approved. 

However, the ticket order contained false information that was attributed to Wicked Wallop, including the wrong email address, office address and mobile phone number.

During the time leading up to the Pure & Crafted event, Levin gave Mr Wong and Mr Raymond Tan Yong Kiat, deputy director of the corporate sales department of NTUC Club, the impression that NTUC Club and Wicked Wallop had signed a contract, even though this did not happen. 

Levin went on to reserve the venues on NTUC Club’s premises and directed the club's banquet and operations teams to prepare for the event.

The event ran and the property, goods and services belonging to NTUC Club were used for the occasion.

DISCREPANCIES IN PAYMENT FOUND 

In December 2018, Mr Wong reviewed a report prepared by NTUC Club’s finance department and realised that the 100 Wild Wild Wet tickets had yet to be paid to the club. 

He asked Levin about the outstanding amount of S$963.

Levin then transferred the full amount owed from his personal bank account to the club’s bank account on Jan 11, 2019. 

When Mr Tan learnt about this, he asked Levin to explain why the transfer was made from his personal bank account.

Levin lied that the client, Mr Loh, was busy and had yet to make payment for the Wild Wild Wet tickets.

Mr Wong then checked the financial report again and realised that NTUC Club did not receive any payment at all from Wicked Wallop for the Pure & Crafted event. 

He then filed a police report on Jan 17, 2020.

He stated in his report that Wicked Wallop had informed him that it had paid for the event to Pizzazz instead of NTUC Club on Levin’s instructions.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Jason Chua told the court that Levin has not made any compensation to NTUC Club besides the S$963 for the Wild Wild Wet tickets.

Anyone convicted of a criminal breach of trust can be jailed up to 15 years and fined. 

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this article said Andy Levin was sentenced to 13 weeks’ jail. This is incorrect. His jail term was 13 months. We are sorry for the error.