Jail for woman who stole jewellery, handbags from friend who asked her to feed her cats
TODAY file photo.
SINGAPORE — She was entrusted to feed her friend’s cats while the latter was away on holiday, but she laid her paws on her friend’s valuables and made off with them.
Mandee Hameed’s stealing sprees – she stole items with a combined worth of over S$8,000 – came to an abrupt end when she was caught on the closed circuit television (CCTV) camera her friend had installed.
On Thursday (Sept 13), Mandee, 43, whose occupation is not known, was sentenced to 18 months’ jail after she admitted to two counts of theft offences.
A third count of theft offences was taken into consideration for sentencing purposes.
The court heard that Mandee was asked by her friend Siti Noridayu Mohamed Normay and her husband to feed their cats while they were away on holiday in Bangkok.
Mandee had known the couple for about six years.
On Oct 11 last year, Mandee, who was provided with a spare set of keys so that she could feed Ms Siti Noridayu’s cats, went to the flat in Yishun in the morning.
Once there, she went to the master bedroom and pilfered jewellery worth more than S$6,000 from two boxes, and subsequently left the flat.
It is unclear if the cats were fed.
Mandee then went to a pawnshop at Northpoint to pawn some of the jewellery, and got S$2,180 for it. Two days later, she pawned the remaining jewellery at another pawnshop in Sembawang, and received S$970.
“She did not pawn the items at the same shop as she knew it would be suspicious if the total value of items was too high,” said Deputy Public Prosecutor Deborah Tang, who asked the court to impose a jail sentence of at least 17 months.
Before returning the spare keys to Ms Siti Noridayu on Oct 16, Mandee made a duplicate set for herself.
Later that year, Ms Siti Noridayu noticed items missing from her flat, and installed CCTV cameras.
On Jan 22, she told Mandee that she would not be at home. Mandee then went into the house with her own set of keys and stole more items.
She took S$15 in cash that was on the dining table, and also stole four handbags worth more than S$2,000 in total.
Later that evening, Ms Siti Noridayu realised more items were missing. A check on the CCTV footage revealed Mandee as the thief, and a police report was made.
