Singapore jails Canadian-born Hong Kong woman for credit card theft, trying to flee country

After losing her job as a preschool teacher in November last year, Morena Hui Yan-Yan, 27, went on a spending spree using credit cards she stole from friends and strangers.

The Canadian-born Hong Kong citizen is also on the run from the authorities in Toronto, where she has been wanted for alleged fraud and other property offences since 2019.

Hui’s Singapore crimes included using the stolen bank cards to pay for hotel stays, music festivals, air tickets, restaurant meals, and to book gym, spa, and beauty salon packages.

Even while she was being investigated for these offences, Hui tried to abscond from the country on February 7 this year but was apprehended by the airport police as she was on a “stop” list.

She went on to steal more credit cards and cash from other victims, between February 7 and February 25, while under investigation before being remanded.

On Wednesday, Hui was sentenced to two years’ jail, after pleading guilty to four counts of cheating and one count of theft in dwelling.

Her sentence was backdated to February 27, when she was arrested and remanded.

Hui was a preschool teacher at a kindergarten here until she was terminated in November 2023. Court documents did not state when she began working in the role, or why she was terminated.

Sometime in November 2023, Hui and a female friend – whom she met through an online application a couple of months earlier – stayed in a hotel room together.

While the friend was out of the room, Hui searched through her belongings and found the woman’s credit card.

Hui then used her mobile phone to take photographs of the credit card, including its expiry date and security code, without the friend’s consent.

On November 25, 2023, Hui used the credit card details to pay for two hotel