Teacher accused of pocketing S$40,000 of students’ funds tells court she gave police statement ‘under duress’

SINGAPORE — A former Head of Department (HOD) for English accused of misappropriating about S$40,000 in students’ funds broke down in court on Monday (June 24). She was recounting the humiliation of being handcuffed in school, in view of students and fellow teachers.

Taking the stand for the first time, Maslinda Zainal, 44, who taught at Woodgrove Secondary School in Woodlands, also cried as she told the court that she was “under duress” when the police took her statement.

Maslinda stands accused of two charges of criminal breach of trust by a public servant, by misappropriating S$40,636 meant for learning materials known as Excel packages. This allegedly happened between January 2016 and April 2017.

The trial in the State Courts began in November last year after she pleaded not guilty.

In her evidence on Monday, Maslinda claimed that a station inspector in Jurong Police Station, Mr Navindeer Singh, had “terrorised” her with the statement that she could face a life sentence since she is a public servant facing a criminal breach of trust charge.

That way, she would never see her family again and could “kiss your job goodbye", she recalled Mr Singh as having said. She also insisted that Mr Singh had “promised" that she would be let off if she co-operated.

“He said if you sign on the statements we prepared for you, and you agree to whatever amount we ask you to pay, we will let you off. We will not charge you,” Maslinda said. “I was really very, very scared, Your Honour. I told him I would agree to everything.”

She testified that because of this, she did not read her police statement taken on the day she was arrested, even though she signed every page of the statement.

The trial has entered into an ancillary hearing to ascertain if the police statement that was taken late on April 7, 2017 until 1.20am on April 8 is valid and could be admitted as evidence against her.

The court heard that she had been HOD at Woodgrove Secondary from 2006, up until her arrest in 2017. She had been a teacher for about 20 years in total, and had a master’s degree in education. As HOD, seven to eight teachers reported directly to her.

The court also heard that her son was a student at Woodgrove.

At Jurong Police Station, Maslinda said that she was cuffed to a railing in the basement car park for about an hour before she was taken for photo-taking, finger-printing and blood sampling.

Her belongings were also taken, including her hijab (head dress) and spectacles, although she had told a female officer that she needed her glasses to see properly.

“She insisted that I surrender my spectacles,” she told District Judge Ng Cheng Thiam as she cried again. Upon questioning by her lawyer, Mr Singa Retnam, she said this was one of the reasons she did not read the statement, because her spectacles had been kept in the locker room.

She added that before the police statement was taken at about 11.45pm, she had to wait a couple of hours in a cold lock-up room, where she was given food which she did not eat because she was still traumatised by her arrest.

She said that the moment she sat down with two investigation officers, Mr Singh started raising his voice at her, making an accusation that she must have taken some S$300,000 from the school since she had been with Woodgrove for 15 years, if she took S$20,000 each year.

“I told him I did not do such a thing, and I broke down and cried very badly,” she said. That was when Mr Singh told her she might be given a life sentence if she did not co-operate, she added.

'I WAS VERY FRIGHTENED'

When Deputy Public Prosecutor David Koh cross-examined Maslinda, he put it to her that someone in a supervisory position such as hers would have read any statement put before them before signing it.

She replied: “Logically speaking, a learned, educated person in normal circumstances would have read the statement. But because of the threat and duress I went through, and threat that I would never see my family again… I was very frightened. I was very scared. There was a lot of shouting going on.”

She added: “If I sign, they would let me off. If I co-operate, I would not be charged. And in that moment, I just signed.” Maslinda was sobbing loudly at this point of her evidence, and the judge granted an adjournment of five minutes to allow her to collect herself.

When the court was in session again, she testified that she was “forced to admit things (she) did not do”.

However, DPP Koh noted that she had the “presence of mind” to volunteer more information to the police after she had signed the first police statement. This resulted in another statement being taken shortly after, about how she just remembered that she had kept some of the money she collected in her cubicle.

“(This) shows that you weren’t under such duress and oppression that you didn’t know what you would say,” the prosecutor said.

Maslinda replied that she demonstrated “presence of mind” as she was eager to co-operate with the police since they had promised that they would not charge her.

When DPP Koh pressed her further, Maslinda said: “If the prosecutor is hinting that I was trying to save myself, I would disagree… (Giving another statement) is not about me planning to save myself to benefit me, Your Honour.”

In reply, DPP Koh said: “Madam, I don’t think it is for you to try to guess what I am hinting… I am asking very simple questions.”

Maslinda said: “Sorry, I am an English teacher. I read between the lines.”

DPP Koh asked Maslinda about her evidence from earlier in the day: Another investigation officer from the Ministry of Education, Ms Lucy Lim, had accused her of using the excess money she collected from students to buy property and expensive goods for herself. This was raised in court for the first time on Monday, although Ms Lim took the stand last December.

When DPP Koh argued that Maslinda's testimony was not true and an “afterthought”, she said: “I disagree. Lucy Lim has her side of the story, and I have my side of the story of what happened.”

Maslinda’s trial will continue on Tuesday, with her lawyer re-examining Maslinda in the ancillary hearing.

If convicted of criminal breach of trust by a public servant, Maslinda — who remains out on a S$30,000 bail — could be punished with life imprisonment, or be jailed up to 10 years, along with a fine, for each count.