Man stole S$12,000 worth of valuables from father-in-law, gets divorced and fined

SINGAPORE: A man who stole S$12,000 worth of valuables from his father-in-law got a divorce and a fine for his actions.

Sylvester See Sheng Sen, 27, was fined S$8,000 on Thursday (Nov 7) for one count of theft, with a second count taken into consideration during sentencing.

The court heard that the sales associate was at his father-in-law's Serangoon flat on Apr 10 last year when he decided to steal some valuables.

He had seen his 61-year-old father-in-law keep the key to his drawer in a bag in the living room.

He searched the bag, retrieved the key and went to his father-in-law's bedroom. He unlocked a drawer with the key, where he found another key with the Chinese word for "safe" on it.

See unlocked the safe in the room with the key, and found an assortment of jewellery inside. 

He took S$12,000 worth of items including gold chains, bangles and S$2,000 in cash.

See then returned the keys to their original places and went back to his own flat with his three-year-old son.

His father-in-law realised that the jewellery was missing and made a police report on Apr 22 last year.

See was arrested on May 2 and investigations revealed that he had pawned some of the valuables at a pawn shop in Bedok for about half their value. 

He later went back and redeemed the items as he felt guilty. All the items were recovered from his Woodlands flat.

See's defence lawyer told the court that his client's wife divorced him over the offences.

The lawyer said See always intended to return the items, and never planned to "cause any permanent loss". He has also made full restitution, and compensated his father-in-law an additional S$3,000 as a gesture of his remorse.

"Our client has suffered greatly," said the lawyer. "He cannot see his four-year-old son regularly. He has also lost his matrimonial flat."

For theft, he could have been jailed for up to three years, fined or both.