34-year-old Phua Kai Liang, a former Maybank Singapore service manager, misappropriated more than $1.4 million in total from his workplace safe over a span of 15 occasions from March 23 to June 10, 2021, according to The Straits Times.
He pleaded guilty to charges that included criminal breach of trust, and he was sentenced on 27 September to three years and 10 months of imprisonment.
He is currently out on a bail of $30,000 and is required to surrender himself on 30 October to the State Courts to begin his jail sentence.
A Desperate Gamble
Phua, who held the position of a service manager at a Maybank branch located in Choa Chu Kang Avenue 4, was responsible for counting the cash in the safe and managing its security alarm, including arming and disarming it.
In early 2021, he suffered heavy losses from trading in the foreign exchange market which left him unable to repay his mounting credit card debts.
Desperation pushed him to borrow money from friends, family, and licensed moneylenders in an attempt to alleviate his financial woes.
In a bid to recoup his losses and repay his debts, Phua resorted to gambling at a casino. This decision only compounded his problems, as he continued to lose money. With no other viable options, he made a fateful decision in March 2021.
The Perfect Crime
Phua was well aware of the bank’s internal workings, including the whereabouts of the safe key and the combination password.
The key was stored in an unlocked desk drawer, shared by him and the bank’s cash officers. To execute his plan, Phua would discreetly disarm the security alarm of the safe and, when the coast was clear, open it using the key and password.
He would then help himself to the contents of the safe, carefully rearming the security alarm before leaving the bank.
He would then convert the money into casino chips or deposit it into his POSB bank account for his personal expenses as well as to use it for forex trading.
He had used more than $1.3 million of the stolen money to convert into casino chips, returning part of his winnings from gambling back to the safe and keeping the remaining amount for himself.
Phua’s meticulous approach was designed to avoid detection. He ensured that the cash he took was returned to the safe before the start of the next business day, meticulously maintaining the cash records to avoid suspicion.
The Unraveling
However, Phua’s luck eventually ran out on June 11, 2021. On this ill-fated day, he took a staggering $404,000 from the safe and lost the entire sum at the Marina Bay Sands casino. Facing the harsh reality of his actions, he turned to his fiancée for guidance.
In a bid to make amends, Phua confessed to his wrongdoing and received $404,000 in cash from his fiancée to put back inside the safe.
He then confessed to his crimes to the bank’s branch manager after asking one of the cash officers to help him replace the amount.
Following his conviction, Phua has since made full restitution to Maybank. He is also no longer an employee of the bank and is currently working for another company.