Indian man faces jail term in Singapore for mistakenly crediting Rs 16 Lakh to his account

A 47-year-old Indian national, Periyasamy Mathiyazhagan, has been sentenced to nine weeks in jail in Singapore after he failed to repay SGD 25,000 (about Rs 16 lakh) that was accidentally transferred to his bank account last year. According to The Straits Times, Periyasamy spent some of the money to pay off his debts and sent the rest to his family in India, fully aware that the money was not his.

The error occurred when an administrator at a plumbing and engineering firm, where Periyasamy had worked between 2021 and 2022, accidentally transferred the money to his account on April 6, 2023. The woman, whose identity has been kept secret, planned to transfer the amount to the company’s bank account to repay a personal loan.

After realizing the mistake, a company director informed the administrator that the company had not received the money. She immediately reported the error to Periyasamy’s bank and requested the money be returned. On April 10, 2023, the bank sent a letter to Periyasamy, informing him of the error and requesting a refund. However, the letter was mistakenly sent to his former employer’s address as it was listed as his last known address in the bank’s records.

On May 9, after receiving no response, the bank informed the administrator that her request had been denied, prompting her to file a police complaint on May 23.

Investigation showed that Periyasamy was aware of the incorrect transfer as early as April 2023. Despite this, he transferred the money to another account in four separate transactions on May 11 and 12. When confronted by the company director and handed over the letter from the bank, Periyasamy admitted he had used the money to pay off debts.

In a police interrogation in November 2023, Periyasamy revealed that he had also sent some of the money to his family in India. He asked for more time to repay the full amount and proposed a repayment plan of SGD 1,500 per month.

This case bears similarities to another incident last year involving 26-year-old Indian national, Bhambri Kunal, who was also sentenced to nine weeks in prison for dealing with criminal proceeds. Kunal had withdrawn more than SGD 26,000 (about Rs 16.7 lakh) from bank accounts linked to fraud victims in the US.

Periyasamy pleaded guilty to embezzling the funds and was sentenced in court this week.