A 28-year-old Singaporean woman, Jocelyn Lee Sock Hui, was sentenced to 15 months imprisonment and ordered to pay $23,767 compensation to the victim, for using his credit card to pay off her credit card bills and go on a shopping spree.
She had used her company director’s credit card to do so because she felt underappreciated at work, according to Channel NewsAsia.
What happened?
Jocelyn Lee’s journey of deception began in 2014 when she joined Hai-Ou Co as an administrative assistant. Her primary responsibilities included assisting her boss, Lee Kin Choi, a 78-year-old director of the company, with paperwork, purchasing orders, quotations, and invoices.
In a show of trust, Lee Kin Choi provided Jocelyn with his credit card and online banking details, entrusting her to manage payments and print bank statements on his behalf.
A Growing Resentment
Over time, she started feeling increasingly unappreciated in her role, a sentiment that bred resentment. It was this resentment that ultimately drove her to misuse her boss’s credit card.
Between March and July 2020, Jocelyn Lee embarked on a relentless shopping spree on popular online platforms like Shopee and Lazada. Using her boss’s credit card, she made 77 unauthorized transactions, racking up an astonishing total of S$29,246.45.
To cover her tracks, Jocelyn Lee resorted to forgery. She falsified records by creating fabricated bank statements, thereby concealing her unauthorized shopping sprees. This cunning tactic was employed to avoid detection, but as the saying goes, “the truth will always come to light.”
The Consequences
The gravity of Jocelyn Lee’s actions soon became apparent when her deceit was reported to the authorities by her boss’s daughter-in-law on August 24, 2020.
In the face of impending legal action, Jocelyn opted to make restitution by returning S$22,000 to her boss.
Lee was allowed to start her jail term in December, and she also has to make full compensation to her boss by then or receive another additional three weeks imprisonment.