Instead of safeguarding and managing his father’s hard-earned cash, a 16-year-old Singaporean teen quietly siphoned money in order to fund fishing trips and a vacation to South Korea.
His father later discovered his dishonest act and reported him to the police, leading to his arrest.
SG teen steals close to RM300K of dad’s insurance & retirement funds
According to The Straits Times (ST), the prosecutor said the teen was tasked with helping his dad with online banking, making monthly premium payments for his three insurance policies, and checking his Central Provident Fund (CPF) accounts between 2023 and 2024.
In 2024, the teen secretly withdrew S$25,370 (approx. RM83,200) from his dad’s CPF ordinary and special accounts. Several loans of over S$68,000 (approx. RM223,000) were also taken out from his insurance policies.
When the money was credited to his dad’s account, the teen transferred a total of $91,149 (approx. RM299,000) to his own bank account via PayNow.
He later admitted to police that he spent the money on several fishing trips and a holiday to South Korea in Aug 2024.
How did he do it?
According to the prosecutor, the teen was able to siphon the money as he had the login details to access his father’s online banking account and Income Insurance account.
It also allowed him to be cognizant of how much cash was sitting in his dad’s CPF account, as well as the kind of insurance policies he had.
He then used his own mobile phone to log in into his father’s Income Insurance account and applied for the loans.
As for the CPF withdrawals, the teen logged in via his father’s phone to help him check if money had been deposited.
A notification on how to transfer funds from the account then popped up, causing him to steal the money.
Police report lodged
In February, the teen’s dad discovered his son’s crimes came to light when his niece was helping him check his insurance policies and made a police report, leading to the teen’s arrest on the same day.
As of Aug 29, 2025, no restitution was made by the teen but he and his dad had agreed that he would pay the money back once he finds a job.
Charges
A total of three charges under the Computer Misuse Act 1993 was handed to the teen, who pleaded guilty to a charge of accessing computer material with an intent to commit or facilitate commission of offence on Monday (Sept 1).
The remaining two charges are being taken into consideration.
In court, the teen’s lawyer said his client was “young and stupid” but has since matured following the incident.
He was stupid, as he confesses, and went on this childish exuberance and went travelling. Since then, he has behaved himself, and has wised up and matured.”
 A probation suitability report and a reformative training suitability report was called by the judge and sentencing was adjourned to October.
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