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A woman who wanted to withdraw $ 500 from her bank account found an additional $ 17,000 in her possession after a victim of a dating scam mistakenly transferred it to her.
Instead of returning the money, Ambikai, 32, from Singapore used it for personal expenses and gave a large portion to loved ones.
Yesterday, she was sentenced to 24 days in jail after pleading guilty to dishonest embezzlement.
On January 17 of last year, Ambikai was withdrawing money from an ATM when she realized there was an excess of $ 17,000 in her account.
Assistant District Attorney Audrey Choo said: “She was fully aware that this excess sum did not belong to her, as she should only have had $ 500 in her account that she wanted to withdraw that day.”
Despite knowing that the money belonged to someone else who had mistakenly transferred it to her, Ambikai did not attempt to contact the rightful owner.
That same day, he withdrew $ 3,000, spent $ 1,000 on personal expenses, and kept the remaining $ 2,000.
She also transferred $ 5,000 to her boyfriend’s account.
The next day, he withdrew another $ 9,000 and gave the sum, along with the previous $ 2,000, to his brother-in-law, who needed cash for renovation work on the house.
The 65-year-old victim filed a police report on February 5 stating that she had transferred money to various bank accounts, including Ambikai’s, as a result of a love scam.
Police identified Ambikai on February 12 and began investigations before arresting her on June 16.
Her attorney told District Judge Ronald Gwee in mitigation that her client was the sole breadwinner in the family and that her parents were highly dependent on her.
Ambikai has made a full restitution to the victim.
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