Jail sentence for woman who defrauded bike mate of S$4,000 despite knowing victim was bankrupt

SINGAPORE: An officer from the Ministry of Law’s (MinLaw) Insolvency and Public Trustee Office (IPTO) conducted an unauthorized search of his workplace computer system and revealed that his cycling mate was bankrupt.

Despite this, Rozita Mohamed Rosli continued to defraud the 46-year-old woman of S$4,000, claiming that the money was for so-called “completion” allegedly required as part of the process to save herself from bankruptcy. .

Rozita even suggested the victim borrow money from his brother-in-law when he said he didn’t have enough money at the time.

The victim managed to raise the money after pawning her gold bracelet and gave Rozita $4,000 in cash in July 2022.

On Wednesday, November 13, the 42-year-old criminal was sentenced to 15 months in prison after pleading guilty to one count each of cheating and misusing a computer system.

Rozita, who has since returned the full amount to the victim, was a personal insolvency administrator at IPTO at the time of the crimes.

Responding to questions from The Straits Times, MinLaw said Rozita was suspended on half pay after learning of the case in January 2023.

“While police investigations are ongoing, the officer has been reassigned to a role without access to insolvency or other sensitive information,” his spokesman said, adding that MinLaw had initiated disciplinary proceedings against him following the conviction.

Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) June Ngian said the victim was declared bankrupt in June 2017.

According to a specific schedule, he was required to make monthly payments of $120 for five years, totaling $6,000.

Rozita recognized him around February 2022 and the pair soon became cycling buddies.

In May 2022, Rozita suspected that the victim was bankrupt and decided to find out more about it.

Rozita was at work when he illegally used his computer to search for the victim’s information on an internal computer system. He later learned that the victim was bankrupt.

In June 2022, he called the victim and said that he knew about his bankruptcy.

Later that month, Rozita was with a group of friends when she asked the victim if they could talk privately. He then deceived the victim into believing that an additional $4,000 was needed as part of the process to save him from bankruptcy.

The DPP said: “The defendant… advised the victim that he had spoken to the victim’s individual insolvency administrator… about the victim’s case and that the victim should expect an additional $4,000 in cash.

“The defendant explained that the $6,000 repaid was insufficient and that an additional $4,000 would be required to successfully emerge from bankruptcy if any of his creditors objected to his discharge.”

Rozita claimed the additional $4,000 was “part of a plan to address all bankruptcy cases.”

He told the victim that if his creditors objected to his relief from bankruptcy, MinLaw would use the $4,000 as a “counter offer” to help him avoid bankruptcy.

Rozita also said that if creditors reject the offer, she will be refunded the full $4,000.

The victim fell for the lies and gave him $4,000 in cash on July 10, 2022.

On December 13, 2022, the victim received an email from MinLaw containing the bankruptcy relief document. He asked Rozita to return the money but could not get it.

The truth was finally revealed when the victim called the MinLaw helpline and spoke to an officer about the matter.

On January 5, 2023, he confronted Rozita, who returned the $4,000, and police were notified two months later.

Rozita’s bail was set at $15,000 on November 13, and he is expected to begin serving his sentence on December 4. -The Straits Times/ANN