35 year-old Muinah, a domestic worker from Indonesia, was sentenced to 18 months jail today after she was found guilty of stealing cash and property amounting to more than $160,000 from her employer.
A district court heard that Muinah had been working for 33 year-old Ms Esther Minah Mohamed Shah at her home in Bishan since May 2013.
Last September, when the victim and her husband were moving to a rented house in Nim Road, the victim had asked Muinah to help keep all her jewellery in a luggage.
Muinah took the opportunity to steal two branded watches and hid them inside the kitchen cabinet. She subsequently handed the watches to another Indonesian maid known as Dewi who was returning home. She asked Dewi to hand the two watches to her mother in her home town in Indonesia.
Between Oct 1 last year and May 9 this year, Muinah stole cash and jewellery totalling $65,157 while cleaning the house at Nim Road. After stealing the items, she would hide them inside her personal bag and then underneath the refrigerator outside the store room of the house.
Ms Minah began to suspect that something was amiss when she noticed cash and belongings going missing. She made a check and found local and foreign currencies as well as some pieces of jewellery under the refrigerator on 9th May. She made a police report the same day.
Ms Minah's husband also flew to Indonesia and managed to get the 2 branded watches back from the maid's mother.
The maximum penalty for theft as a servant is 7 years' jail and a fine, and for removing property outside jurisdiction, she could have been fined up to $500,000 and/or jailed for up to 7 years.
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