SINGAPORE, July 2 — A 36-year-old Filipino domestic worker has been sentenced to 40 days in jail in Singapore after unknowingly helping transfer more than S$116,000 (RM383,000) in scam proceeds to a Thai bank account.
Galvez Mary Joe Blanco pleaded guilty to one charge of transferring S$116,154.51 from her POSB bank account to an account at Kasikornbank in May 2024, according to Channel News Asia.
Galvez was helping a fellow domestic worker, Maria Luz Suerte Lopez, 57, who had been deceived by a man she met on TikTok. The scammer, claiming to be Alex Stillinger, a U.S. Army member, manipulated Maria into receiving and moving funds related to alleged gold investments.
Since Maria lacked a bank account, she asked Galvez to use hers and promised her a token reward for each transaction. Between May 15 and May 29, 2024, about S$118,133 was transferred into Galvez’s account, with over S$116,000 sent to a Thai account under the name Saichit Jeremiah.
Investigations revealed that S$20,300 of the money was tied to love scams involving two Singaporean women, aged 61 and 70. One of them was duped into transferring S$108,500, though only a portion passed through Galvez’s account.
Galvez was arrested in October 2024 and surrendered S$1,151.50, her total earnings from the transactions. No other funds were recovered.
While prosecutors pushed for up to six-and-a-half months in jail, citing the seriousness of enabling scams, Galvez has appealed her sentence and is currently out on bail pending the appeal.
