SINGAPORE, Oct 15 — A former United Overseas Bank (UOB) employee was convicted yesterday of multiple offences related to unauthorised access and disclosure of customer information involving more than 1,000 individuals.

As reported by The Straits Times (ST), Cao Wenqing, a 30-year-old Chinese national, was found guilty of 14 charges under the Computer Misuse Act and 13 charges under the Banking Act.

Cao, who had denied the charges, was represented by lawyer Kalidass Murugaiyan from Kalidass Law Corp.

According to court documents, she was employed as a junior officer in UOB’s mortgage department at the time of the offences. Her role involved selling mortgage products to new customers and managing accounts for existing clients, which gave her access to a confidential customer database. 

The database contained sensitive details including customers’ names, nationalities, account numbers, identification numbers, addresses, and bank balances.

In March 2021, Cao was contacted by two individuals identifying themselves as “Xiang Ying Dong” and “Captain Lu”, who claimed to be Chinese police officers. 

Cao subsequently agreed to assist them on a voluntary basis. 

Acting on instructions from Lu, she conducted searches for Chinese nationals in the bank’s system using common Chinese surnames. After identifying individuals, she compiled the information including names, phone numbers, and account balances into an Excel file, photographed the document, and sent the images via WhatsApp. She then deleted the photos.

On several occasions, she also carried out targeted searches on specific customers as directed by Lu.

The court heard that Cao was aware she was only permitted to access the database for work purposes and was bound to maintain the confidentiality of customer information.

According to ST, she later lodged a police report on April 22, 2021, after realising she had been misled. She was arrested on the same day.

Prosecutors said Cao acted out of fear and believed she was under investigation by the Chinese authorities. However, they argued that her knowledge of internal policies and local laws made her actions deliberate and unlawful.

Sentencing has been scheduled for December.