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The court heard that in 2019, Latha, who was a health assistant at Woodlands Care Home, was assigned to care for the victim, a 65-year-old man. He died in January 2021, according to court documents. The court heard that sometime in 2019, the man forgot the PIN number for his ATM card and Latha accompanied him to the bank to obtain a new code after a regular hospital visit. The man received his new PIN number in the presence of Latha and placed his ATM card in the pocket of his phone cover.
He then handed the device to her for safekeeping. On November 21, 2019, Latha used the card entrusted to her to withdraw SGD1,000 in cash, committing theft, said the prosecution. She then used the card on Nov 25 to pay for SGD73 worth of food and toiletries at a supermarket in Woodlands, dishonestly inducing staff at the store to make the transaction.
The offences came to light when the elderly man reported to the police on November 27 that he lost his ATM card and that unauthorised withdrawals had been made from his bank account. This was not Latha’s first brush with the law. In 2017, she was fined SGD600 for property-related thefts, according to court documents. Seeking a fine of SGD4,000, the prosecution said that the total amount involved in Latha’s case was SGD1,870, noting that restitution was made in the form of a donation to the Singapore Cancer Society on Feb 9 this year. In mitigation, defence lawyer Ashwin Ganapathy, who also sought a fine of SGD4,000, said Latha was committed to making restitution despite needing months to gather the funds.
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