A 32-year-old Singaporean woman found an excess of S$17,000 in her bank account one day, as a result of a mistaken transaction.

Found excess S$17,000 in bank account

However, instead of trying to contact the rightful owner and returning the money, Ambikai spent the money on personal expenses such as groceries and household supplies, and gave a large portion of the money to her boyfriend and brother-in-law.

According to court documents seen by Mothership, Ambikai was fully aware that the excess S$17,000 did not belong to her, as she should only have had S$500 in her account, which she planned to withdraw on Jan. 17, 2019.

On Jan. 17, when she found the excess money in her account, she withdrew S$3,000, spent S$1,000 on personal expenses, and kept the other S$2,000.

Gave bulk of money to boyfriend and brother-in-law

Later that day, she transferred S$5,000 to her boyfriend's bank account.

The next day, she withdrew the remaining S$9,000 of the excess money and gave it to her brother-in-law, in addition to the S$2,000 she withdrew on Jan. 17, as he was in need of cash for home renovation works.

Victim accidentally transferred to Ambikai's bank account as a result of a love scam

On Feb. 5, 2019, the victim, a 65-year-old woman, lodged a police report.

According to court documents, the elderly woman had transferred money to various bank accounts, including Ambikai's, as a result of a love scam.

The police identified Ambikai as the account holder by Feb. 12, 2019, and commenced investigations against her. She was eventually arrested on Jun. 16, 2020.

She was charged for dishonestly misappropriating the S$17,000 mistakenly transferred to her bank account.

According to TNP, Ambikai was sentenced to 24 days in jail on Dec. 30, 2020 after pleading guilty to her charge.

Her lawyer told the judge in mitigation that his client was the sole breadwinner of the family, and her parents were highly dependent on her.

As of Dec. 28, 2020, Ambikai has made full restitution to the victim.

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