Woman duped restaurants into delivering 59 free meals worth over $10k, gets jail term cut after pro bono appeal
A woman used edited PayNow screenshots to dupe two restaurants into delivering 59 meals worth more than $10,000 without paying.
The 33-year-old Filipino national, Santos-Tumalip Maria, was originally sentenced to 21 months and eight weeks’ jail.
According to a Shin Min Daily News report, she appealed her sentence with the help of a lawyer who represented her pro bono — and her jail term was reduced by 10 months.
She was sentenced to 11 months and eight weeks’ jail on Aug 28.
Maria faced seven charges including cheating, theft, fraud and obstructing the course of justice. She had pleaded guilty to four charges, with the remaining charges taken into consideration for sentencing.
Faked PayNow screenshots to get free food
Maria began ordering from seafood restaurant Crab House’s website in the Joo Chiat area from May 2022.
She would first transfer the payment to her own account via PayNow and take a screenshot of the transaction.
Then, she used photo-editing software to change the recipient’s name to that of the restaurant and subsequently sent the fake payment confirmation to the restaurant via WhatsApp.
Using this method, Maria made 35 fraudulent orders between May 2022 and August 2023, receiving meals worth a total of $3,891.75 without paying.
She later used the same trick on Italian restaurant Baci Baci.
Between June 15, 2024 and May 28, 2025, she made 24 fraudulent orders, obtaining food worth $6,167.52.
That means she managed to get 59 meals worth a combined $10,059.27 from both restaurants.
Cried tears of joy when sentence successfully reduced
Maria appealed her original sentence at the High Court on Friday, represented pro bono by Sujesh Anandan, son of prominent lawyer Subhas Anandan.
Sujesh argued that the original sentence was too harsh, pointing to previous cases involving higher amounts or more instances of cheating that had received lighter sentences.
He proposed a seven-month jail term for the cheating charge.
The prosecution objected, arguing that seven months was too low and that the original sentence should stand.
High Court Judge Kanangaram Ramesh said previous cases showed that the imprisonment term for the amount involved in Maria’s case would generally range from three to six months.
However, the judge noted that Maria’s method of cheating was simple and that she had not gone to lengths to conceal her identity.
At the same time, she had committed further offences while on bail, which warranted a significant sentence.
The judge eventually allowed the appeal and reduced the sentence for the cheating charge from 18 months to eight months.
Her total jail term was therefore reduced from 21 months and eight weeks to 11 months and eight weeks.
Maria and her sister, who was in court to support her, cried tears of joy after hearing the decision.
She repeatedly thanked her lawyer after the hearing.
Allowed to return home to give birth
Maria was pregnant while the case was being investigated and was granted permission to return to the Philippines to give birth in 2023.
She delivered her baby in January 2024, returning to Singapore with her newborn shortly after giving birth to continue with investigations.
Sujesh also told the court that Maria had since made full restitution and demonstrated genuine remorse.
He added that she had cooperated with investigators.
Maria has been remanded since Sept 8, 2025, and has been separated from her infant child for several months.
The defence asked the court to take her circumstances into consideration and allow her to return home to reunite with her child as soon as possible.
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