Jail for maid who stole employer’s Chanel bags, other luxury items worth over S$27,000
A view of the State Courts building in Singapore.
SINGAPORE — A domestic worker stole several luxury branded items from her employer worth more than S$27,000 and sold them for less than a third of their value because she needed money.
On Tuesday (May 28), Tri Amanah was sentenced to 10 months’ jail for her offences, which were committed while her employer was overseas.
The 33-year-old Indonesian pleaded guilty to theft in dwelling.
Her sentence was backdated to her date of arrest on March 30 this year.
At the time of the offences, she had been working for Ms Chan Man Ping, also 33, for about one-and-a-half years.
Her duties included cleaning, doing general household chores and taking care of her employer’s cats.
Tri struck when Ms Chan and her husband were overseas between March 21 and 28.
She stole three Chanel bags from a cupboard inside the master bedroom, two rings from the living room and two pairs of Chanel shoes from the storage room.
She sold them off at two different shops for a total of S$7,475.
Court documents showed that the total value of the items was S$27,225.
On March 30 at about 1am, Ms Chan discovered that the three bags were missing and made a police report.
Upon further checks, she realised that the other items were missing, too.
Tri was arrested that afternoon and she admitted to stealing them.
From the sales proceeds, she claimed to have remitted S$3,370 to her family in Indonesia and used most of the remainder to pay for outstanding loans and instalments.
The stolen items were seized by the police.
During mitigation, Tri begged the court for leniency, saying that her mother had a stroke and heart problems back home.
For theft in dwelling, Tri could have been jailed for up to seven years and fined.
