HE helped his ex-wife set up her Internet bank account, but when he ran into financial difficulties after they divorced, he started dipping into her account to pay off his debts.

On Thursday, Benedict Seet Siew Keat, 28, was jailed six months under the Computer Misuse Act for using another person's account to cheat the bank.

A district court heard how Seet, a recruitment consultant, turned to crime in 2006, two years after he divorced his wife.

It turned out that Seet had helped her set up an Internet account and password after they got married in 2001.

The woman did not change the password after they divorced in 2004.

In June 2006, Seet got into trouble because he was unable to pay off his credit card bills. He was chased out of his house by his parents and ended up sleeping in his company office.

His mobile phone subscription was terminated as he was unable pay for it. Desperate, he borrowed a colleague's phone and offered to pay for the subscription.

However, when he could not keep up with the payments, he accessed his ex-wife's banking account and paid the $325 bill from it.

Seet, who had borrowed $70 from another colleague, offered to repay the debt by paying for the colleague's $150 phone bill in the same manner.

In return, the colleague would give him the balance of $80 in cash.

In all, Seet took $475 from his ex-wife, who reported him to the police when she found out that her savings account was depleted.

Seet could have been jailed up to 10 years.