Executive Jailed for Using Thousands of Company Dollars to Buy Pokémon Cards

An executive in Singapore was jailed for using thousands of company dollars to buy Pokémon cards.

Linberg Yeo Yu Wei, 27, has been processing payments to vendors for SPD Scientific, a Singapore-based laboratory equipment supplier, since July 2023.

One month into his role, the Strait Times reported that he started tricking the CEO into signing payment vouchers by telling her they were approved by the finance manager, allowing him to defraud the company out of $501,173 between August and October 2023.

Yeo then spent the money on frivolous items, including Pokémon cards, a pre-owned Rolex, an iPad, and holidays as well as credit card and to gamble.

In November, a human resources manager identified accounting discrepancies after $24,840 was deposited into Yeo's bank account. He returned the money the next day, but the company launched an investigation, according to the Strait Times, and found he had been cheating them out of hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Yeo was arrested on Jan. 5, 2024. In addition to seizing his Rolex watch, law enforcement found he still had $400,000 of the stolen money in his bank account. He blamed his actions on the company, claiming he was mistreated.

The executive pleaded guilty to one count of cheating and was sentenced to 19 months in jail on Wednesday.