S'pore man, 64, says stranger spent over S$400 of his SG60 vouchers, police investigating

A Chinatown resident was trying to use S$20 worth of his SG60 physical vouchers at a Sheng Siong supermarket on Jul. 6 when he was told that one of the vouchers had apparently been used.

In response, the resident, surnamed Li (transliteration), visited the Kreta Ayer community club (CC) immediately, and a staff member asked him to check whether his family members had used the vouchers, reported Shin Min Daily News.

After confirming with his two sons that they did not use the vouchers, Li went to lodge a police report.

According to the transaction record, the unknown individual had already spent S$417 of the S$800 vouchers as of Jul. 12, while Li and his wife had only spent S$42.

Discovered SG60 vouchers used by an unknown person

Speaking to Shin Min, Li said that he and his wife went to claim their SG60 vouchers from Kreta Ayer CC on Jul. 2.

At the time, a staff member printed out the vouchers on paper to make it easier for the couple to use them.

While Li was able to use a S$10 voucher at a FairPrice supermarket on Jul. 4, his wife allegedly encountered an issue when she tried to buy meat floss with vouchers from a Bee Cheng Hiang outlet on Jul. 5.

According to Li, when his wife tried to pay with three S$10 vouchers and a S$2 voucher, the cashier apparently said that one of the S$10 vouchers had already been used.

Although Li's wife felt puzzled at the time, she paid the remaining amount with cash, recounted Li.

Li's sons 'did not use the vouchers'

Li told Shin Min that it was only until he encountered an issue paying with the vouchers at Sheng Siong on Jul. 6 that he realised something was amiss.

Following the instructions of a staff member at Kreta Ayer CC, Li called his two sons to confirm that they did not use the vouchers.

"As both of them shared that they had never used the vouchers, the staff member advised me to lodge a police report," recounted Li.

Vouchers spent at various locations

Li went to the Police Cantonment Complex on Jul. 7. He logged into his Singpass account to access the transaction records with the help of a police officer, reported Shin Min.

He then found out that someone had been spending the vouchers since Jul. 3, the day after Li claimed the vouchers at the CC.

Although Li lived around Hong Lim Complex, the unknown individual had been spending his vouchers at locations further from home, such as stalls at Redhill Food Centre and Old Airport Road Hawker Centre.

"The person used the vouchers to buy various food items, including buns, delicatessen, fish ball noodles, economy rice, and nasi lemak," alleged Li.

More recently, the individual bought S$84 worth of traditional Chinese medicine with Li's vouchers at Jalan Kukoh on Jul. 8 afternoon before spending another S$90 worth of vouchers at a FairPrice outlet on Jul. 12.

Li tried to identify unknown individual

Li also shared with Shin Min that he had tried to identify the unknown individual after noticing they had used his vouchers at a shop in Chinatown on Saturday afternoon.

Li told the shop assistant about his alleged ordeal and asked to check the CCTV footage or transaction records at the shop.

However, the shop assistant said that only enforcement officers can access the CCTV footage.

Police investigations ongoing

Li stressed that the physical copies of the vouchers are kept by him and his wife. Furthermore, they had not redeemed the vouchers online or shared related links to others, Shin Min reported.

Therefore, the elderly couple had "absolutely no idea" how the unknown individual managed to obtain and use the vouchers.

So far, Li shared that he had visited the police station twice to record his statement and assist with investigations.

He hoped that the police could identify the unknown individual soon, since there are CCTV cameras around the shop in Chinatown.

In response to Shin Min's queries, the Singapore Police Force (SPF) confirmed that a report was lodged, and investigations are ongoing.

Top images via Shin Min Daily News