Tuition centre employee pleads guilty to illegally redeeming face masks using IC numbers of students, parents

SINGAPORE — Believing that her family needed more face masks, a tuition centre employee secretly took down the identity card numbers of the centre’s students and their parents so that she could redeem their masks from vending machines.

These masks were issued by Temasek Foundation in a nationwide distribution exercise.

At the time, each resident in Singapore was entitled to one mask, valued at S$10, to protect them against Covid-19. The masks, produced by the Swiss hygiene company Livinguard, could be redeemed from designated vending machines with one’s identity card details.

Hah Fong Yong told investigators that she thought it “would be a waste” if people did not redeem the masks.

The 58-year-old's actions, however, led her to be hauled to court on Wednesday (Jan 25), where she pleaded guilty to a single charge for cheating.

A second charge for illegally obtaining personal information was taken into consideration for Hah’s sentencing on Feb 10.

Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Tay Jia En told the court that Hah’s offences began at the start of March 2021 when she was employed as an administrative staff member at the Stalford Tuition Centre located along Upper Changi Road. It was not stated if she is still employed by the tuition centre.

Part of her duties was in assisting to register parents and students for tuition classes, which required her to obtain their identity card numbers.

DPP Tay said that Hah took down the numbers belonging to at least eight individuals and used them to redeem masks from a dispensing machine.

Hah later admitted that she had redeemed a total of 20 Livinguard masks, which included eight belonging to the centre’s students and parents, that were valued at S$200. It was not stated how she obtained the details required for the remaining 12 masks. 

Her offences caught the attention of the police on March 3, after a woman filed a police report because she and her son were unable to redeem their own masks.

The woman was informed by phone via the Temasek Foundation’s hotline that someone had already redeemed their allotment of masks the day before.

Hah was eventually traced down with the aid of surveillance footage, which caught her in the act, and she was arrested on the morning of March 11. The police also found and seized 20 unopened packets of Livinguard masks from her home.

For her offences, Hah could be jailed up to 10 years and also be liable to a fine.