2 Years Of Embezzled Rp2.2 Billion Clinic Finance, Dentist Assistant Use Money To Buy Property In Malaysia

Photo by Atikah Akhtar on Unsplash

JAKARTA - A dentist's assistant has been jailed for embezzling S$158,000 from a clinic. The money that was collected was used to buy property in Malaysia

For more than two years, a dental assistant pocketed more than Rp2.2 billion from patients.

Malaysian citizen Charlene Ashby Clay, 24, was sentenced to 16 months and two weeks in prison on Tuesday 4 January. She pleaded guilty to two counts of criminal breach of trust as a servant and one of transferring benefits from a criminal act.

Clay works as a dental assistant at Dr. Smile Dental Clinic at Block 443, Clementi Avenue 3.

She started pocketing money from clinics in October 2018, taking cash from patients. She will enter data into the point of sale system to make it appear as if the patient has made a payment by a method that cannot be immediately verified, such as by NETS or a credit card.

Between October 2018 and March 2019, she embezzled S$44,861 this way, depositing cash into her own bank account.

At the end of March 2019, the clinic accountant informed the dentist that there was a discrepancy between the amount received by the clinic and the point of the sale system log.

Clay admits to her crime and pleads with the dentist not to cancel her work permit. She asked for a chance to continue working there and said she was willing to pay the dentist back, and the dentist decided to give her a chance to redeem herself.

They agreed that Clay would be deducted between S$650 and S$1,050 from her monthly salary each month until S$44,861 was paid to the clinic.

However, Clay continues to misappropriate cash from clinic patients. Between March 2019 and March 2020, she made personal arrangements with the patient to make a cash payment to her S$113,520.

She used a new method to embezzle money from clinics on top of changing data, by persuading patients to transfer the full payment for dental packages to her personal bank account via PayNow transfer. She would offer them an unauthorized discount if they did, continuing to deposit the proceeds of the crime into her own bank account.

When a customer goes to the clinic to use their package, Clay will transfer a small amount back to the clinic's bank account for payment and avoid suspicion.

Her scam was exposed on March 30, 2020, when a dentist ordered a patient to pay S$200 at the clinic counter after completing his braces procedure.

The patient told the dentist that he had made full payment of S$3,700 to Clay for his braces beforehand.

Dentists were confused, because the clinic's policy was to charge patients after each visit and not to charge a lump sum. He confronts Clay, who confesses to her crimes again.

Clay transferred part of her illicit profits to a bank account in Malaysia and spent the rest on her personal expenses, including the purchase of property in Malaysia.

In total, she has paid S$12,348 in damages, as part of the payment agreement she made with the dentist when she was given another chance.