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The Police will be charging three men and two women, aged between 34 and 59, in court on Aug. 16 for allegedly misusing NRIC and FIN numbers to redeem face masks from vending machines put up by Temasek Foundation.

Among them include a 59-year-old who managed to redeem over 200 face masks from the vending machines with fraudulent means.

More than 300 masks redeemed

In a press release by the Singapore Police Force (SPF) on Aug. 15, the five cases were described in detail:

• A 34-year-old man had allegedly gone to multiple locations to redeem 14 face masks using NRIC numbers which were sent to him by accident, or obtained in the course of his work. He will be charged with one count of cheating under Section 420 of the Penal Code.

• A 58-year-old man had allegedly redeemed 11 face masks from mask vending machines using NRIC numbers of his clients without their authorisation for his own use. He will be charged with two counts of cheating under Section 420 of the Penal Code. He will be charged with two counts of cheating under Section 420 of the Penal Code.

• A 47-year-old woman had allegedly redeemed eight face masks from mask vending machines using FIN and NRIC numbers she had obtained in the course of her work and had retained without the owners’ consent. She will be charged with one count of cheating and one count of illegally obtaining personal information under Section 420 and Section 416A of the Penal Code respectively.

• A 43-year-old woman had allegedly redeemed 10 face masks from mask vending machines using NRIC numbers of her clients without their authorisation. She will be charged with two counts of cheating and two counts of illegally obtaining personal information under Section 420 and Section 416A of the Penal Code respectively.

• A 59-year-old man had allegedly redeemed 257 face masks from mask vending machines using fraudulent means. He had done so by falsely representing that he was authorised to collect the mask packs on behalf of others whose NRIC numbers he had obtained in the course of his work. In the course of investigations, he was found with an additional 244 face masks which are believed to be fraudulently obtained. He will be charged with one count of cheating and one count of fraudulent possession of property under Section 420 of the Penal Code and Section 35(1) of the Miscellaneous Offences (Public Order and Nuisance) Act respectively.

Liable for imprisonment and/or a fine

The offence of cheating under Section 420 of the Penal Code carries an imprisonment term that may extend to 10 years and includes a fine.

The offence of retaining illegally obtained personal information under Section 416A of the Penal Code carries an imprisonment term of up to three years, a fine of up to S$10,000, or both.

The offence of fraudulent possession of property under Section 35(1) of the Miscellaneous Offences (Public Order and Nuisance) Act carries an imprisonment term of up to one year, a fine of up to S$3,000, or both.

"The Police take a serious view of persons who dishonestly deprive others of redeeming their face masks during such distributions through fraudulent methods of obtaining their personal information and misusing this for personal gain," the SPF said.

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Top image via Mothership/Joshua Lee