Singapore – A domestic helper allegedly stole S$5,002 from her employer, and it wasn’t the first time she had taken a few thousand dollars.
In a report by Chinese-language daily Lianhe Wanbao, the domestic helper Bajo Nelgielyn Bobita saw an opportunity for theft when she stumbled on the key and passcode to her employer’s safe deposit box. She is suspected of having nabbed a total of S$5,002 from the safe.
The 28-year-old from the Philippines allegedly hid the stolen money in some sanitary napkins in her room. Upon discovering that the money was missing from the safe, her employers immediately filed a police report, according to The Strait Times.
According to employer Lee See Boon, 69, Bobita had been doing her daily chores on February 22 at his Serangoon flat when she had found the small purse containing the key to the safe along with a piece of paper displaying the safe’s passcode.
Bobita had then unlocked the safe, stole S$3,000 and gone to Lucky Plaza shopping centre in Orchard Road two days later to remit half of the money to her family in the Philippines.
On March 3, she had sent the rest of the money to her family.
Three days afterwards, she had gone back to the safe and stolen S$5,002.
When Mr Lee opened his safe that day, he found his money gone.
Bobita was arrested and taken to Changi Women’s Prison after she was charged with two counts for theft. She was sentenced to 16 weeks in prison on May 9 (Thursday) after pleading guilty for the charges.
However, where did her last loot go?
On March 8, during a body scanning process, prison officers detected a foreign object in Bobita’s lady parts. A small plastic bag containing the cash was then removed.
No restitution has been made for the S$3,000 stolen beforehand.
For each count of theft, offenders could serve up to seven years in jail and fined.
While there have been many cases of abuse o foreign domestic workers in Singapore, there are also cases when the abuse comes from the domestic worker. An example of this is the case of Rosa who had posted lies about her employer online. It was only when the Ministry of Manpower had made a call to her employers to investigate the matter that Rosa had been caught.
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