Filipino woman, 33, used edited PayNow screenshots to cheat restaurants of over S$9,000, wanted to impress her friends

A Filipino woman, 33, was sentenced to one year and 11 months' jail on Nov. 13 after she used edited PayNow screenshots to cheat two restaurants of more than S$9,000.

Santos-Tumalip Maria Monalyn Bagaporo pleaded guilty to four charges, including cheating and theft.

Three more charges were taken into consideration for sentencing.

The court heard that Bagaporo had repeated her offences on multiple occasions: 35 times at one restaurant, and 24 times at another.

She did so "because she wanted to order food for her friends and impress them", the prosecutor said.

Cheated two restaurants with same method

Between 2022 and 2025, Bagaporo would place food orders and submit doctored PayNow screenshots as proof of payment, said Deputy Public Prosecutor Tan Jing Min.

First, she would place an order at the restaurant and opt to make payment by PayNow.

She would then transfer the invoiced amount to herself using PayNow, before taking a screenshot of the transaction.

Next, she used an app called "PhotoGrid" to edit the picture, changing the recipient to the name of the business that requested payment.

She would also edit the details of the sender's account, making it appear like she was making payments through different bank accounts.

Finally, she sent the screenshot to the restaurant and claimed to have made payment.

The businesses then processed her orders and delivered the food.

Swindled seafood restaurant

Bagaporo's first victim was Home of Seafood restaurant located in Joo Chiat.

She started ordering food from them in May 2022, and devised her con as a way to avoid making payment.

In total, the accused made 35 orders between May 2022 and August 2023 in which she submitted the screenshots despite having not actually made payment.

This amounted to S$3,891.75.

Each time, the restaurant manager reviewed the screenshots to confirm that the payment amount and transfer date matched the order invoice.

But he did not cross-check these with the restaurant's bank records to verify if payment was actually received.

Bagaporo's crimes came to light after the restaurant's manager reviewed bank statements on Sep. 2, 2023, noticed the lack of payment, and lodged a police report.

She has made full restitution.

Cheated Italian restaurant

Bagaporo also carried out the same con at an Italian restaurant, Baci Baci in Serangoon Gardens.

Between Jun. 15, 2024 to May 28, 2025, she placed 24 separate food orders via WhatsApp.

This amounted to a total value of S$6,167.52

Using the same method, she edited screenshots of her PayNow transactions and used these to cheat the staff at Baci Baci into believing they had received payment.

She managed to do so for almost a year before the restaurant discovered her ruse on May 25.

They lodged a police report a few days later. No restitution has been made as yet.

Hair salon con

Apart from her cons at restaurants, Bagaporo also cheated a hair salon at Orchard through a similar modus operandi.

At Johwa Hair & Living at Stamford Road, Bagaporo posed as a client named "Tom" and claimed she wanted to buy a hair treatment voucher.

Using the same fabricated screenshot method, she managed to obtain a gift voucher.

After redeeming that voucher for services, she repeated her con and managed to obtain another voucher.

But this time, the director checked and discovered that payment for both vouchers, valued at S$763.00 in total, had not been received.

Over the next month, employees repeatedly reminded Bagaporo to provide payment.

When she failed to do so, the salon lodged a police report on Jul. 5, 2025.

On Jul. 30, 2025, an investigation officer contacted Bagaporo and instructed her to report for statement taking.

She agreed but proceeded to delete all WhatsApp messages between herself and the Johwa WhatsApp account, obstructing the course of justice.

Bagaporo has made restitution of S$381.50 to Johwa Hair & Living.

Supermarket stealing spree

Bagaporo further admitted to stealing S$738.76 worth of groceries from a Giant supermarket outlet in Bedok on Nov. 27, 2024.

The 31 items stolen include produce, chocolates and biscuits, and personal care products like body cream and Tiger Balm leg plasters.

The court heard that Bagaporo had entered the supermarket with a trolley bag and tote bag.

She paid for five other items at a self-service kiosk but behaved "suspiciously", prompting a staff member's attention.

After she left the supermarket, he followed her and asked to check her bags.

He then discovered the stolen items.

Recalcitrant behaviour

The prosecution requested for Bagaporo to be handed a jail sentence of between 23.5 to 27 months' imprisonment.

While the offences carried a low degree of sophistication, Tan pointed out that she had reoffended four times while on court bail, using the same dishonest scheme.

She also called Bagaporo's behaviour "flagrant and recalcitrant".

For cheating, she could have faced a prison sentence of up to 10 years, a fine, or both.

For theft, she could have been jailed up to seven years and fined.

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Top photo from Song Yeow Lee and Raden Enam Sembilan/Google Maps