For attempting to avoid paying $1.40 for her train fare, 55-year-old Lee Xing An had to fork out $700.

She wanted to get a free train ride from the Aljunied MRT station to the Simei station - which would have cost her $1.40.

According to Wan Bao, Madam Lee closely followed the passenger in front of her who had just tapped her EZ-Link card.

This way, Madam Lee could have gotten in without swiping her own card.

However, a vigilant SMRT station officer witnessed Madam Lee's act and moved to detain her.

After reviewing the station's security cameras and Madam Lee's EZ-Link card's electronic log of trips, the court had enough evidence to charge her.

For her "frugality," Madam Lee was fined $700 - more than 500 times than what she would have paid for the train fare.

Adamant about innocence

It was not an easy task detaining Madam Lee.

According to Wan Bao, when the female station officer confronted Madam Lee, she refused to admit that she didn't pay. To make things worse, Madam Lee begun to raise her voice at the station officer and scolded her.

The female station officer was forced to go to her station manager for help.

The latter then reviewed the security cameras and Madam Lee's travel log on her EZ-Link card, according to Wan Bao.

Of the last 20 recorded trips on Madam Lee's EZ-Link card, four trips were "free".

From Sep 20 to 23, the log revealed that Madam Lee had entered or exited the MRT gantries without swiping her EZ-Link card.

Madam Lee refused to accept the court's judgement and said that she would engage a lawyer to appeal, Wan Bao reported.

'The gantry had malfunctioned'

She raised her voice and scolded the SMRT officers in public after being detained by them.

In the courtroom, she maintained that she had tapped her EZ-Link card, which was in her blouse pocket at the time of the incident.

She bent over her upper body in order to make sure she "tapped" her card, Wan Bao reported.

She maintained that the gantry had malfunctioned and therefore, it did not register her payment.

She also claimed that she carries four EZ-Link cards with her and may have given the officers the wrong EZ-Link card to verify, reported Wan Bao.

But when requested to produce the four EZ-Link cards for vertification, she could not do so.

Madam Lee only managed to hand two cards over, one of which had no stored value and was impossible to use.

Madam Lee also said that she did not closely stick to the passenger in front of her as claimed, according to Wan Bao.

In fact, her hands were full with bags and she was busy switching the bags from one hand to another so that she could tap her card.

With regards to the gantry's green light not lighting up when she passed through, Madam Lee said that she had not noticed it.

The judge, however, believed that Madam Lee was lying, Wan Bao reported.

Also, it is entirely plausible that a person may sneak in through the MRT gantry if he or she sticks closely to a paying passenger.

According to the station manager, the gantries have been tweaked to stay open for longer periods of time.

This is so that parents who are pushing baby strollers or the elderly may pass more easily.

Under such conditions, it is possible for somebody to sneak in free of charge, Wan Bao reported.