SINGAPORE – An Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) officer was on duty at its Sea Domain Headquarters in Brani Way when he misappropriated 22 vouchers worth $440 in total.
Ling Yong Sheng, who was supposed to distribute the vouchers to other ICA officers, instead redeemed them to obtain items including a toy duck for his landlord’s child and a pair of wireless earphones.
The 36-year-old Singaporean pleaded guilty to one count of criminal breach of trust and was sentenced to two weeks’ jail on Oct 2. He has since made full restitution.
ICA had earlier told The Straits Times that it immediately conducted internal investigations following feedback that some of the vouchers could have been misappropriated, and lodged a police report when the suspect was identified.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Ariel Tan told the court on Oct 2 that Ling was a domain resource management officer at the time of the offence.
He was also a welfare representative for the ICA officers in its Ports Command unit, and was tasked to collect and distribute the vouchers, worth $20 each, to his colleagues.
The vouchers were issued to the officers on occasions such as Labour Day, and they came from companies including investment firm CapitaLand.
On June 30, 2023, he received some vouchers, each containing a code hidden underneath a security foil.
The DPP said that the recipient of the voucher would usually have to scratch off the security foil to see the redemption code beneath it.
DPP Tan added: “However, when the accused was handling the vouchers, he noticed that he could see the security code through the security foil when the card was tilted at an angle and scrutinised under a light. The accused then formed the intent to redeem the voucher for his own use.”
Ling keyed in the security code for one voucher and received credits in his e-wallet.
He then went on to misappropriate 21 more vouchers until August 2023.
Ling’s offence came to light when two of his colleagues alerted ICA after realising that they could not redeem their vouchers. They found out that an account holder named “Ling Yong Sheng” had earlier redeemed them.
On Oct 2, DPP Tan urged the court to sentence Ling to up to three weeks’ jail, stressing that he had been driven by greed and was a public servant when he committed the crime.
2 weeks’ jail for man who pocketed vouchers for ICA staff worth $440 in total
