S'pore drinks stall worker allegedly pockets S$384 in CDC vouchers by scanning to own account

A drink stall employee in Bukit Panjang allegedly used his own phone to scan customers' Community Development Council (CDC) neighbourhood vouchers into the account of a rojak stall he previously owned.

In nine months, the employee, who was in his 60s, allegedly pocketed S$384 for himself.

The stall lodged a police report and fired him after discovering the alleged theft.

Used own phone to scan CDC vouchers

A representative of the coffee shop in Bukit Panjang surnamed Yu (transliteration), told Shin Min Daily News (Shin Min) that the man started working at the drink stall in April 2024.

"He used to run a rojak stall in the coffee shop, and after his stall's closure, he came over to the drink stall to work. His usual work hours were from 3pm to 11pm," Yu said.

Yu explained that whenever customers make payment via CDC vouchers, the drink stall employees are supposed to use a phone provided by the coffee shop to scan the vouchers, which would deposit the money into their account.

But the man instead scanned the vouchers with his own phone and deposited them in the account of the rojak stall he previously owned, Yu said.

Caught by supervisor

Yu shared that the man performed well as a drink stall employee and no one suspected him initially.

"However, on Jan. 12, the drink stall supervisor saw the man using his own phone to scan a customer's CDC vouchers and questioned him on the spot," Yu said.

In response, the man claimed he did not know how to use the stall's phone to scan the vouchers.

"The supervisor found it hard to believe, so she requested to see the transaction records. She found out that in the months since he started working for the drink stall, he had transferred a total of S$384 into his own account," Yu said.

Yu added that at least 30 such transactions were found, and some days had multiple transactions.

Fired by coffee shop, police report made

The coffee shop subsequently confronted the man and asked him to return the S$384 he had "embezzled", Yu said.

"He said he didn't have the money, so we suggested deducting the amount from his January salary, which he agreed to. He also signed a letter of agreement," Yu said.

Yu said the coffee shop subsequently lodged a police report and fired the employee.

He has reportedly agreed to leave by the end of January.

"We had no idea such a thing could happen, and hope to raise awareness in order to warn other vendors to be wary about such unscrupulous behaviour," said Yu.

In response to Mothership's enquiries, the police confirmed that a report was lodged and investigations are ongoing.

Top image from Canva/ by Daniel Seow