Man steals over S$30,000 in gold jewellery from former roommates before fleeing to Batam
SINGAPORE: A former employee of a famous bak kut teh restaurant has been charged with trespassing and theft after allegedly entering the staff dormitory of two former colleagues and taking gold jewellery worth more than S$30,000.
The two victims were employees of the restaurant at the time, and their unit served as staff accommodation. As reported by Shin Min Daily News, the 38-year-old Malaysian suspect had previously lived in the same unit as the victims while working at the restaurant. He resigned in December 2024 before moving out of the unit.
Further investigations stated that one of the victims returned home on Mar 28 this year and found that the lock on their iron gate was missing. He immediately thought that something bad had happened and went inside to check. Unfortunately, he found that gold jewellery, including a gold ring and two gold bracelets worth a total of S$21,084, went missing.
After realising the crime, the victim called his colleague and roommate. It was also discovered that another gold necklace worth more than S$13,000 had also been taken from his room.
When the police launched an investigation, a surveillance camera confirmed that the suspect took the elevator up to the first floor of the HDB block at 1:43 p.m. on the day of the incident, and exited the elevator at around 2:00 p.m. Investigations also stated that the suspect took a ferry to Batam Island at 2:43 p.m.
Due to this, the authorities issued an arrest warrant for the suspect, and he was arrested on April 24 this year after returning to Singapore. The stolen jewellery was not recovered, and the suspect did not provide any compensation to the two victims.
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In a separate case, a man allegedly preyed on drunk men who had fallen asleep, stealing valuables including Rolex watches, gold necklaces and mobile phones.
Five of the seven victims appeared in court to seek compensation from the 45-year-old Malaysian suspect.
Read more about the news story here.