SINGAPORE: A domestic helper who stole jewellery and a Rolex watch costing tens of thousands of dollars received a 15-month jail sentence on Tuesday (Nov 21) after pleading guilty to one count of theft as a servant.
It took 39-year-old Indonesian national Sri Hastuti over a year to carry out the thefts. After stealing the diamond and gold jewellery and watch, Sri Hastuti pawned the items and sent the money she received from them to her family back home. Thirty-one pawn shop tickets were found among her possessions when her thievery came to light. The total amount of items she stole was worth over S$57,000.
The prosecutor had asked for a jail sentence of between 15 and 20 months, given the high value of the items she had stolen and that her offences took place over a year. According to Section 381 of Singapore’s Penal Code, a servant committing theft of any property belonging to his or her employer may be imprisoned for up to seven years and be subject to a fine.
Read related: Maid gets 15 months jail for withdrawing S$88,600 from employer’s 95-year-old father’s bank account
While she had worked for a German national from September 2022 to September 2023, the helper took 66 items from the master bedroom of the Marine Parade Condominium where her 43-year-old employer lived.
By October 31, the employer filed a police report over his missing items. These included a Rolex watch worth S$20,000, gold bars, necklaces, cuff links, rings, and 4-carat white diamond earstuds.
The valuables had been kept in a drawer that he did not lock to give Sri Hastuti access so she could clean it. The police later got back around S$41,000 worth of missing items but could not recover the others. Sri Hastuti has made no restitution for the thefts.
The helper acknowledged in court that she had committed wrongdoing but pleaded for leniency, saying she was the only one working to support her child, parents and siblings. “I don’t know what happen to them if I am away too long,” CNA quotes her as saying.
Last week, another Indonesian domestic helper received a 15-month jail sentence after she withdrew S$88,600 from the bank account of the 95-year-old father of her employee. She was found guilty of one count of criminal breach of trust by dishonest misappropriation. Eka Yuniarsih, 32, also pleaded for a lighter sentence, saying she needed to continue to work to support her family. /TISG