Chinese national, 35, fined S$10,000 after earning S$40,000 delivering food in S'pore using friend's account over 20 months

A 35-year-old Chinese national in Singapore was fined S$10,000 on Jan. 2 after he was caught carrying out food delivery by using his friend's particulars to sign up for an account with a platform.

Zheng Zongren, said during mitigation in court, that he needed the money for his mother's medical bills, according to Shin Min Daily News.

Over the course of one year and eight months, the accused earned S$40,000 in total, or about S$2,000 per month delivering food.

Used friend's particulars

Sometime before early August 2021, Zheng set up a foodpanda account using the personal details of his friend.

The accused had tried to sign up for an account using his own details, but was unsuccessful, as he was a Chinese national.

The food delivery platform only allows Singaporeans and permanent residents to sign up for an account.

Zheng was a work permit holder employed by an engineering company at the time.

His job was a metalworking machine setter-operator.

According to court documents seen by Mothership, the accused began working as a food delivery rider in early August 2021.

He did so even though he was aware he did not have a valid work pass to work as a food delivery rider, but he wanted to earn additional income.

Worked on weekday evenings and whole weekend

Zheng would deliver food from 5:30pm to 11pm on weekdays outside of his working hours at his official place of employment.

On Saturdays, he would deliver food from around 1pm to 11pm.

On Sundays, he would do so from around 9am to 9pm.

The accused continued to work as a food delivery rider until Apr. 7, 2023, when he was subjected to a spot-check by the Singapore Police Force.

Investigations were carried out by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) on Jun. 22, 2023.

It was discovered that he was performing food delivery work using the account registered with his friend's personal details for the past one year and eight months at that time.

Earnings from the deliveries were deposited directly into Zheng's bank account as he had used his personal bank account details when creating the foodpanda account.

What court heard

His fine was for one count of contravening the law under the Employment of Foreign Manpower Act.

During his sentencing in court, Zheng requested to be allowed to remain in Singapore to work.

The prosecution had sought a fine of between S$10,000 and S$12,000.

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