‘Grateful I was caught’: Ex-nurse jailed for stealing surgery patients’ bank card information

SINGAPORE: A nurse used the one-time passwords ( OTPs ) that were sent to their phones to add their bank cards to his digital wallets while patients in his ward went for surgery. &nbsp,

Then he attempted to get another S$ 32, 000 worth of goods and services using more than S$ 11, 000 ( US$ 8, 185 ) from their cards.

After telling the jury he was “grateful,” Muhammad Ilyas Mohamed Noor, 23, was sentenced to 32 months in prison on Monday ( Mar 4).

He pleaded guilty to eight counts of lying and system misuse, with another 14 counts being taken into account.

The prosecutor was informed that Ilyas worked as a nurse at Ng Teng Fong General Hospital (NTFGH).

Using the same tactic, he stole from at least four people.

He did link the patients ‘ bank cards and devices to his digital wallets when the people had surgery.

The second person was a 69-year-old person who visited NTFGH for operation in September 2022.

Ilyas removed the victim’s locker’s handphone and POSB debit cards while the patient was undergoing operation. &nbsp,

The man then used an OTP that was sent to his phone to connect the bank card to his own Google Play Store and modern cards.

A female individual meddled with the patient’s locker when he returned from surgery. He was tired and unable to see what the person was doing, though.

When the person after checked his belongings, he discovered everything to be true.

Ilyas used the victim’s cards to top up his EZ-Link cards and spend for his daily charges, including food and virtual game payments.

The individual reported illegal transactions and filed a police report.

Ilyas reacted to his behavior against other survivors after realizing he could get more money from them.

A Bangladeshi person at the hospital was one of them when he realized that only about S$ 18 was left in his account when he realized S$ 1, 000 was missing.

SENTENCING

Because Ilyas has since made whole compensation, assistant public prosecutor Eugene Phua requested nine to twelve months in jail for Ilyas on Monday. He had previously requested a 10-to-14-month sentence.

However, Mr. Phua noted that the patients ‘ complete economic losses totaled at least S$ 11, 623.81.

Additionally, he had attempted to arrange top-ups worthing about S$ 32,000, but these endeavors had failed.

Ilyas, who was underrepresented, expressed his regret for the victims and expressed his condolences for the harm done.

He said,” I really would like to apologise for the damage done and the crime being committed by me.” ” I’ve come to terms with the fact that I’ve stolen from the subjects and breached trust, and I know exactly what’s going on. I would n’t make the same mistake again.

He continued,” I am really glad that I was arrested by the police because things could’ve gone many worse because I was blinded by ambition.”

If the extra transactions had failed, District Judge Sharmila Sripathy-Shanaz said his sentence would have been “much greater” if it had been fortuitous.

She claimed that she could infer from Ilyas ‘ prevention plea and actions toward compensation that he was genuinely sorry.

She claimed she had “every belief” that this would be his last appearance in court based on his attitude toward self-reform, even though he still had to bear the consequences.