KUALA LUMPUR - An assistant manager at a maid agency was jailed after deceiving clients into transferring payments to his personal PayNow account by making it appear as though the account belonged to his employer.

Malaysian national Chai Song Lin siphoned off more than S$92,000 over a period of about five months by redirecting payments meant for his company, as reported by CNA.

The 45-year-old was sentenced to 20 months and two weeks’ imprisonment on Monday after pleading guilty to one charge of cheating involving 72 transactions between mid-September 2024 and early March 2025.

The court heard that Chai was employed as an assistant manager at 1st Allbest Human Resource from around June 2022 until March 2025.

His duties included sourcing clients, selling the agency’s foreign domestic worker services and instructing customers on how to pay deposits and processing fees.

Clients were typically allowed to make payments via PayNow, bank transfer, cash or a Nets payment machine at the agency’s office.

In September 2024, Chai devised a plan to divert funds by changing the display name of his PayNow account from “Derek” to “1st Allbest Human Resource”.

He then told clients the account belonged to the company and generated a QR code linked to his personal bank account for them to scan.

When clients made payments, the recipient name appeared as the company’s, leading them to unknowingly transfer money into Chai’s account.

More than 40 victims were deceived into transferring a total of S$92,508.40, with individual sums ranging from S$50 to S$3,500.

To avoid suspicion, Chai paid about S$3,800 into the company’s bank account to create the impression that he was generating revenue.

The scheme unravelled on March 6 last year when his superior questioned the mismatch between his strong sales figures and the low income recorded by the company.

Chai initially claimed that clients were late with payments but later admitted to the offence when his superior said he would verify the matter directly.

He made restitution of S$10,000 the following day after his superior demanded repayment and filed a police report.

The prosecution sought a jail term of between 17 and 18 months, describing the offence as a carefully planned scheme that abused the trust of both clients and the company.

“If the accused person had not stood out as the highest performing salesperson, it is likely that he could have (and almost certainly would have) carried on offending,” Deputy Public Prosecutor Vishnu Menon said.

In sentencing, the judge noted the substantial amount involved and cited aggravating factors including premeditation and breach of trust.

He added that the punishment reflected the need for general deterrence and the protection of confidence in Singapore’s digital payment system.

Chai could have faced up to 20 years’ jail and a fine for the offence of cheating.