36-year-old Seah Guo Rong, an officer with the Ministry of Manpower, pleaded guilty to 2 counts of cheating and was sentenced to 8 months imprisonment on 20 October, according to The Straits Times.
He had used a credit card that he found to buy a gold ring worth more than $6,000, as well as $20 to top up his ez-link card.
What happened?
On 16 March, Seah found the credit card on the side of a road in Hougang, and he then messaged his supervisor to take an “urgent half-day leave”.
Seah then used the credit card to top up $20 to his ex-link card, before going to Chinatown MRT station to look for jewellery shops, before finding a shop that sells watches and jewellery at People’s Park Complex.
He asked a staff member to look at a high purity level gold ring and he picked one worth $6,330 after trying on a few.
He then paid for it with the credit card that he found, and signed on the receipt with a fake signature.
Seah then tried to buy another gold bangle with the same credit card but this time the card was rejected, and Seah then left and threw the card and receipt away.
He then went to a pawn shop at Hougang MRT station and sold the ring for $4,550 before depositing the money into his bank account, and he then threw away the receipt from pawning the ring.
He then proceeded to buy groceries, pay his bills and buy TOTO with the money that he got, as well as trading his ez-link card for a new one.