SINGAPORE: A food stall assistant who misused Food Junction's card top-up system to siphon money was jailed for two years and eight months on Thursday (Dec 18).
Zhang Gui, 47, pleaded guilty to one charge under the Computer Misuse Act, with two similar charges taken into consideration for sentencing.
Food Junction started running its card programme in October 2021. Patrons could pay for their meals using stored value in their Food Junction cards and enjoy a discount when they did so.
Initially, patrons topped up their cards by approaching individual stalls and using the stall's NETS terminal to add value to the cards.
The top-up method changed after Nov 1, 2021 when Food Junction introduced self-service kiosks.
These kiosks were eventually discontinued in September 2023, and Food Junction's card programme stopped on Nov 28, 2023.
Zhang started working at the Food Junction outlet in Great World City in October 2021, before the kiosks were introduced.
The court heard that after the kiosks came into service on Nov 1, 2021, Zhang realised he was still able to top up cards using his stall's NETS terminal.
Between Oct 30, 2021 and Nov 21, 2023, he performed 2,070 transactions to top up Food Junction NETS Flashpay cards with a total value of S$41,370 (US$32,000).
He used the money stored in the cards to pay for food and drinks for himself and his friends at various Food Junction outlets.
On Nov 21, 2023, NETS flagged the transactions at Zhang's stall to Food Junction after finding them suspicious.
This was because S$10 or S$20 was loaded into a card each time without a corresponding payment being made, and because stalls were no longer supposed to help patrons top up cards.
A manager of the Food Junction outlet reviewed security footage and saw Zhang loading money into multiple cards at his stall.
Zhang was confronted by the outlet's managers on Nov 23, 2023 and admitted to the transactions. He was arrested that day.
The Chinese national has not made any restitution to Food Junction.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Ashley Chin sought 30 to 40 months' jail for Zhang.
She highlighted the serious cheating offence underlying Zhang's misuse of the top-up system and his long period of offending over more than three years.
He also abused the trust placed in him as a stall assistant, as he was only able to commit the offences because of his job, said the prosecutor.
Zhang could have been jailed for up to 10 years, fined up to S$50,000 or both.
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Zhang Gui, 47, pleaded guilty to one charge under the Computer Misuse Act, with two similar charges taken into consideration for sentencing.
Food Junction started running its card programme in October 2021. Patrons could pay for their meals using stored value in their Food Junction cards and enjoy a discount when they did so.
Initially, patrons topped up their cards by approaching individual stalls and using the stall's NETS terminal to add value to the cards.
The top-up method changed after Nov 1, 2021 when Food Junction introduced self-service kiosks.
These kiosks were eventually discontinued in September 2023, and Food Junction's card programme stopped on Nov 28, 2023.
Zhang started working at the Food Junction outlet in Great World City in October 2021, before the kiosks were introduced.
The court heard that after the kiosks came into service on Nov 1, 2021, Zhang realised he was still able to top up cards using his stall's NETS terminal.
Between Oct 30, 2021 and Nov 21, 2023, he performed 2,070 transactions to top up Food Junction NETS Flashpay cards with a total value of S$41,370 (US$32,000).
He used the money stored in the cards to pay for food and drinks for himself and his friends at various Food Junction outlets.
On Nov 21, 2023, NETS flagged the transactions at Zhang's stall to Food Junction after finding them suspicious.
This was because S$10 or S$20 was loaded into a card each time without a corresponding payment being made, and because stalls were no longer supposed to help patrons top up cards.
A manager of the Food Junction outlet reviewed security footage and saw Zhang loading money into multiple cards at his stall.
Zhang was confronted by the outlet's managers on Nov 23, 2023 and admitted to the transactions. He was arrested that day.
The Chinese national has not made any restitution to Food Junction.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Ashley Chin sought 30 to 40 months' jail for Zhang.
She highlighted the serious cheating offence underlying Zhang's misuse of the top-up system and his long period of offending over more than three years.
He also abused the trust placed in him as a stall assistant, as he was only able to commit the offences because of his job, said the prosecutor.
Zhang could have been jailed for up to 10 years, fined up to S$50,000 or both.
Continue reading...