SINGAPORE, March 25 — A Singaporean man who received S$125,000 (RM386,539) by mistake and decided to keep it instead now faces jail, after admitting he spent the money and shuffled it across accounts to cover his tracks, according to Singapore-based media organisation CNA.

Loo Liew Ting, 63, pleaded guilty today to dishonest misappropriation and concealing criminal proceeds, after pocketing the six-figure sum that was wrongly transferred into his bank account.

The court heard that the money landed in Loo’s POSB account on July 11, 2024, after a 55-year-old man accidentally selected the wrong recipient while making a transfer.

Instead of alerting the bank or returning the cash, Loo kept quiet — even as banks tried to contact him — and began moving the money around.

He transferred S$103,000 into a Citibank account, withdrew tens of thousands in cash and funnelled more into another account, spending the rest for his own use over two months.

Prosecutors said he knew from the start the money was not his and that the transfer was a mistake.

Between July and September 2024, he took steps to conceal the funds, including multiple withdrawals and transfers — actions the court later described as deliberate.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Jordy Kay pushed for 15 to 17 months’ jail, pointing to the large amount involved, while defence lawyer Teo Choo Kee argued for a lighter 12-month sentence, calling the proposed term “rather crushing”.

Teo admitted his client had engaged in what he described as “self-laundering”, saying: “Having come into receipt of such a large amount, he then set about the so-called ‘self-laundering’.”

But the case took another twist when Loo’s defence claimed he could no longer repay the money, allegedly after losing a “quite a bit” of it in cryptocurrency investments.

District Judge Kelly Ho was unimpressed.

“If he had the money, the first and utmost priority was to make restitution,” she said, adding the explanation was “not something in his favour”.

Despite prosecutors dropping their request for a compensation order after the defence said Loo lacked funds, the judge ordered a deeper probe into his finances, citing evidence he may still have means.

Loo, a part-time traditional Chinese medicine practitioner, has been ordered to submit bank statements, CPF records and payslips before sentencing, which has been adjourned to April.

The offences carry heavy penalties — including up to two years’ jail for misappropriation and up to 10 years for concealing criminal proceeds, potentially doubled due to multiple transactions.