Former Woodgrove Secondary School HOD gets jail for taking S$40,000 in student funds
Maslinda Zainal, 46, was convicted of two counts of criminal breach of trust as a public servant after a trial that spanned almost two years. (Photo: TODAY/Ili Nadhirah Mansor)
SINGAPORE: A former Head of Department for English at Woodgrove Secondary School was sentenced to one-and-a-half years' jail on Friday (Mar 5) for misappropriating about S$40,000 that was collected from students for learning materials.
Maslinda Zainal, 46, was convicted in January - after a trial that spanned a few years - and intends to appeal.
She was found guilty of two counts of criminal breach of trust as a public servant, after rounds of court hearings where all 20 teachers in the English department testified.
Maslinda was in charge of collecting money submitted by students to their English teachers for learning packages, but over-collected about S$40,000 between January 2016 and April 2017.
The school's lower-secondary head for English discovered the offences when she checked the amounts collected against the bookshop invoices and found discrepancies.
Maslinda admitted in police statements to spending the money but said it was not on lavish items, later testifying in court that the police had pressed her to confess.
She said she used the money to buy stationery and other items for the students and did not know she had to keep records.
READ: MOE investigators 'harassed' me: Teacher accused of taking students' money breaks down on stand
Prosecutors sought two years' jail for Maslinda, saying she was a senior public servant whose offences "damaged hard-won confidence in public service, especially in handling monies".
READ: Woodgrove teacher trial: Principal did not know money was collected from students, says defence
Defence lawyer Singa Retnam left the sentence to the judge's discretion after saying that sentencing is at the discretion and flexibility of the judge, and that his client was an award-winning and outstanding teacher who has made restitution at the first chance.
The Ministry of Education previously said Maslinda was suspended from 2017. For criminal breach of trust as a public servant, she could have been jailed for up to 20 years and fined for each charge.
