Maid jailed nine months for receiving stolen cash

This article is more than 12 months old

SHAFFIQ ALKHATIB, THE STRAITS TIMES

Jun 13, 2017 06:00 am

Filipino maid Shirley Navarrete Nalangan, 52, knew something was odd when her online boyfriend asked if she could receive some money in her bank account - supposedly for payments to a financing company.

When she asked, he could not provide her with the name of the firm and failed to give a satisfactory explanation of why the cash had to be transferred through her. However, against her better judgment, she agreed to help him.

Yesterday, she was jailed for nine months after pleading guilty to dishonestly receiving stolen property. She had received $132,121.50 on Jan 2, 2014.

Nalangan came to Singapore in 1990 and, according to her Facebook profile, is single. In August 2012, she met Mr Albert Analdez through a dating website. He is purportedly from Kentucky in the United States.

Sometime in October 2013, Mr Analdez asked for Nalangan's help to receive some funds. In December that year, Mr Analdez asked her to open an account with BNP Paribas to receive the money.

Investigations revealed the money had been transferred out of the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce account of Mr Fahmi El Hosseny, in Canadian currency, after the bank received an e-mail purportedly from him. Mr El Hosseny confirmed his e-mail account had been compromised.