Man in Singapore who asked friend to conduct unauthorised search on DBS' customer info system gets two weeks' jail
www.malaymail.com
SINGAPORE, May 20 — To find an acquaintance who owed him money, Ang Kok How got a friend who was a DBS employee to do an unauthorised search on the bank's customer information system to illegally obtain the person's address and work place.
Ang, 35, who is a Singaporean, pleaded guilty yesterday (May 19) to a charge under the Computer Misuse Act and was sentenced to two weeks' jail.
Another charge under the Banking Act was taken into consideration during sentencing.
Ang's friend, Liong Yan Sin, pleaded guilty on November 21 last year to 10 charges under the Computer Misuse Act and six charges under the Banking Act, and was sentenced to 16 weeks' jail.
How it happened
Before its investigations, the Commercial Affairs Department received a police report made by DBS, which alleged that between May 1 and December 6, 2018, Liong had not only accessed customers' information without any authorisation, but also disclosed some of the information to Ang.
Liong was employed by DBS then as a collections officer whose duty was to speak to bank customers about their outstanding payments, attend to their queries, and discuss payment plans with them.
He was given access to the bank's customer information system for the purposes of his job, and was made aware that he cannot disclose customers' information in an unauthorised manner or access customers' details outside the scope of his duties.
Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Thiagesh Sukumaran said that Ang and Liong were acquaintances who engaged in activities such as gambling, drinking and playing basketball together.
The two were also mutually acquainted with a person named “Kelly”, who had borrowed money from Ang to play poker.
She owed Ang around S$23,000 (RM77,631) and even though she had paid back a small sum of the money, she stopped when she could not be contacted in September 2018.
Liong then asked Ang if he needed help to find Kelly.
Ang knew that in doing so, Liong would have to conduct an unauthorised search on the bank's customer information system in order to find Kelly's details.
Despite that, Ang asked Liong whether it was illegal to conduct such a search but was dismissed by Liong who told him “not to worry”.
Ang eventually agreed to Liong's offer to find Kelly and on September 19 in 2018, Liong made searches on the system for customer details belonging to Kelly, and later obtained her registered home address and place of employment, which he gave to Ang.
It was not stated in court documents if Ang visited Kelly to try to get his money back.
Seeking a sentence of two to three weeks' jail, DPP Thiagesh said that even though Ang's culpability was lower than Liong, he had “abetted” Liong into making the unauthorised search on the system.
Disagreeing with the prosecution, Ang's lawyer Amarjit Singh of Amarjit Sidhu Law Corporation urged District Judge Kamala Ponnampalam to consider a one week jail sentence because Ang “only agreed to Liong's offer” and did not “disseminate the information”, so there is no “abuse of trust” in this matter.
In delivering her sentence, the judge agreed with the prosecution that there is “no dispute” that the crime is serious and there should be “parity” with the sentence given to Liong since Ang also had a similar role in the offence.
For abetting Liong in conducting the unauthorised search through DBS' Customer Information System, Ang could have been fined up to S$5,000 or jailed for up to two years, or both. ― TODAY
www.malaymail.com
SINGAPORE, May 20 — To find an acquaintance who owed him money, Ang Kok How got a friend who was a DBS employee to do an unauthorised search on the bank's customer information system to illegally obtain the person's address and work place.
Ang, 35, who is a Singaporean, pleaded guilty yesterday (May 19) to a charge under the Computer Misuse Act and was sentenced to two weeks' jail.
Another charge under the Banking Act was taken into consideration during sentencing.
Ang's friend, Liong Yan Sin, pleaded guilty on November 21 last year to 10 charges under the Computer Misuse Act and six charges under the Banking Act, and was sentenced to 16 weeks' jail.
How it happened
Before its investigations, the Commercial Affairs Department received a police report made by DBS, which alleged that between May 1 and December 6, 2018, Liong had not only accessed customers' information without any authorisation, but also disclosed some of the information to Ang.
Liong was employed by DBS then as a collections officer whose duty was to speak to bank customers about their outstanding payments, attend to their queries, and discuss payment plans with them.
He was given access to the bank's customer information system for the purposes of his job, and was made aware that he cannot disclose customers' information in an unauthorised manner or access customers' details outside the scope of his duties.
Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Thiagesh Sukumaran said that Ang and Liong were acquaintances who engaged in activities such as gambling, drinking and playing basketball together.
The two were also mutually acquainted with a person named “Kelly”, who had borrowed money from Ang to play poker.
She owed Ang around S$23,000 (RM77,631) and even though she had paid back a small sum of the money, she stopped when she could not be contacted in September 2018.
Liong then asked Ang if he needed help to find Kelly.
Ang knew that in doing so, Liong would have to conduct an unauthorised search on the bank's customer information system in order to find Kelly's details.
Despite that, Ang asked Liong whether it was illegal to conduct such a search but was dismissed by Liong who told him “not to worry”.
Ang eventually agreed to Liong's offer to find Kelly and on September 19 in 2018, Liong made searches on the system for customer details belonging to Kelly, and later obtained her registered home address and place of employment, which he gave to Ang.
It was not stated in court documents if Ang visited Kelly to try to get his money back.
Seeking a sentence of two to three weeks' jail, DPP Thiagesh said that even though Ang's culpability was lower than Liong, he had “abetted” Liong into making the unauthorised search on the system.
Disagreeing with the prosecution, Ang's lawyer Amarjit Singh of Amarjit Sidhu Law Corporation urged District Judge Kamala Ponnampalam to consider a one week jail sentence because Ang “only agreed to Liong's offer” and did not “disseminate the information”, so there is no “abuse of trust” in this matter.
In delivering her sentence, the judge agreed with the prosecution that there is “no dispute” that the crime is serious and there should be “parity” with the sentence given to Liong since Ang also had a similar role in the offence.
For abetting Liong in conducting the unauthorised search through DBS' Customer Information System, Ang could have been fined up to S$5,000 or jailed for up to two years, or both. ― TODAY
