Jail for man who returned to steal from same mosque after doing time, then tried to steal from 2nd mosque

SINGAPORE — Three weeks after serving jail time for stealing from a mosque's donation boxes, Mohammad Razali Rahmat returned to the mosque to steal again. Then, after getting bail, he tried to steal from another mosque.

On Wednesday (March 27), the 43-year-old Singaporean was sentenced to 13 months’ jail after he pleaded guilty to two counts of housebreaking to commit theft.

WHAT HAPPENED

In March last year, Razali was convicted and sentenced to six months’ jail after twice visiting Al-Huda Mosque at Jalan Haji Alias in the Bukit Timah area in 2022 to steal from its donation boxes.

His remission period for the sentence ended on June 8, 2023.

Prior to his 2022 offences, the mosque had given him S$50 and encouraged him to volunteer there to receive more financial aid, the court heard then.

Through his volunteering stint, he became familiar with the mosque's layout.

On Wednesday, the court heard that the accused took a private-hire car ride in the wee hours of June 25, 2023 to the same mosque and took along a screwdriver, with the intention to steal from donation boxes there.

“During the course of investigations, the accused admitted that he chose to steal from the first mosque as he was familiar with its layout and thus knew it would be easy for him to gain entry to the first mosque and gain access to the donation boxes,” said Deputy Public Prosecutor Niranjan Ranjakunalan.

After Razali arrived at about 2.20am, he trespassed into the mosque by climbing over the perimeter wall and pried open a few donation boxes — taking out S$177.85.

A mosque caretaker heard noises coming from the area where the donation boxes were and went to check. This was when he saw Razali running away.

The caretaker managed to stop the culprit from climbing the wall and called his employer who lodged a police report.

Razali was released on court bail on Oct 25, 2023. Less than a week later on Oct 31, he went to Darul Aman Mosque at Jalan Eunos with a plan to steal from a donation box.

After arriving at about 8pm, he tried to pry open a box with a pen but was foiled by the box’s double locking mechanism. His actions were captured by the mosque's closed-circuit television (CCTV).

A few days later, a mosque staff member spotted prying marks on the box, and another staff member then reviewed the CCTV footage. 

The latter saw Razali’s actions and managed to identify him as he had visited the mosque several times to seek financial aid, said the prosecutor.

The mosque staff made a police report a few days later and Razali was arrested.

Seeking 13 to 15 months’ jail, DPP Niranjan pointed to the premeditated nature of the offences as well as Razali’s past convictions for property-related offences since 2015.

Most pertinently, said the prosecutor, Razali had been convicted and sentenced over a similar offence very recently, in March 2023.

“His remission ended on June 8, 2023 and the accused committed the instant offence just three weeks after, demonstrating his recalcitrance,” said the prosecutor.

Addressing Razali before meting out the sentence, District Judge Christopher Goh said that looking at the facts of the case and Razali’s record, the sentence proposed by the prosecutor was “very reasonable”.

“I don’t want to see you here again,” the judge told him, advising him to “think through…the consequences” of his actions in the future.

For each count of housebreaking to commit theft, Razali could have been jailed for up to 10 years and been liable to a fine.

As he has a prior conviction for the same crime, he could have been caned.