The assistant manager of a restaurant at Marina Bay Sands has been sentenced to six weeks in jail for collecting rewards points earned by customers using a friend’s membership account.
According to a report by The Straits Times, 48-year-old Teo Kwee Yen claimed the points using her friend’s account on 47 separate occasions when customers were not members, notching up more than SG$10,000 (US$7,300) in rewards. She then spent more than SG$1,100 (US$810) of these rewards points on meals at Marina Bay Sands restaurants.
Teo this week pleaded guilty to one charge of unauthorized modification of the contents of a computer and was sentenced to six weeks in jail.
The scheme was allegedly hatched in 2018 when Teo asked her friend to join and give her access to his account. The transactions in question took place between December 2018 and February 2019.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Nicholas Wua said Teo would collect rewards points by entering her friend’s account number into a computer and modifying its contents despite knowing this was unauthorized.
“These Destination Dollars have monetary value and can be redeemed for goods and services at Marina Bay Sands. The value of the Destination Dollars were paid for by the store at which they were accrued,” Wua said.
MBS staff eventually became suspicious of her activities and alerted Teo’s manager.
District Judge Marvin Bay described Teo’s actions as a “flagrant abuse” of her role, The Straits Times reported.