SINGAPORE — Aaron Lew Chueng Sheng suspected his wife was cheating on him, so he began tracking her whereabouts and changing her email password without her consent.

When she refused to tell him where she was one day, he remotely reformatted her mobile phone. He also changed the password on her Google account.

On Thursday (Aug 29), the 28-year-old Grab driver was sentenced to five months’ jail and a fine of S$2,000.

He pleaded guilty to a charge under the Computer Misuse and Cybersecurity Act for logging into his wife’s Google account, and another unrelated charge of managing an illegal remote gambling service.

The couple, who tied the knot in 2014, are now undergoing divorce proceedings.

WHAT LEW DID

The court heard that in early 2018, his marriage with his wife deteriorated as he thought she was having an affair. As her Google account was synced to her mobile phone, he used the account to find out where she was.

He continued tracking her and logging into her email account without her permission, even though she told him to stop it.

She changed her Google account password, but he was still able to log in.

On May 17 last year, he reformatted her mobile phone, causing it to shut down. She was unable to log into her Google account after switching it back on, as he had changed the password.

She also could not reset the password, as her contact details for the account had been changed and the verification codes to reset it were sent to someone else’s number.

Investigations revealed various log-ins that afternoon, originating from an IP address registered under Lew’s mother’s name.

The court heard that Lew had previously run afoul of the law. Between July and September 2016, he ran a remote gambling service and recruited punters from among his friends, Grab clientele and through word-of-mouth.

He placed about S$35,000 in illegal bets for 10 of them for the Singapore “10,000 characters” lottery, or for 4D. He earned 5 per cent of their winnings, and received 10 per cent of any profits they made.

Police officers arrested him at 2.45am on Sept 26, 2016 in Woodlands. He could not account for S$4,055 in cash, and had three mobile phones containing text messages linked to illegal betting.

Court documents also showed that on April 28 last year, Lew continuously banged on another man’s car at about 3am and caused S$870 in damages to its bonnet, front fender, window, windscreen wiper and door.