Man, 20, gets probation for stealing, reselling infant formula to fund daily expenses, mahjong sessions
SINGAPORE — Looking for a way to fund his daily expenses including his late-night mahjong sessions, as well as paying for his driving licence fee, Alister Chua Jun Xuan took to stealing cans of infant milk formula and reselling them on the e-marketplace Carousell.
In total, he stole between 25 and 30 cans of milk powder and earned about S$3,000.
The law eventually caught up with the 20-year-old and he was ordered by the court on Tuesday (May 9) to undergo 15 months of supervised probation. He was also ordered to perform 40 hours of community service.
Chua pleaded guilty on March 28 this year to two charges related to theft and a charge related to cheating.
Six other similar charges were taken into consideration for his sentencing.
WHAT HAPPENED
Court documents showed that Chua began stealing cans of milk powder around July 2021 while he was serving his National Service.
He admitted that he stole cans of infant formula from the brand Enfamil Pro A+, because they could “fetch a higher price”.
Court documents stated that a can of Enfamil Pro A+ Stage 1, for instance, was valued at S$134.10.
Between July 2021 and September 2022, Chua estimated that he stole between 25 and 30 cans of infant formula.
He did this by stealing one to two cans of milk powder from various supermarkets on each occasion.
Then, he sold the stolen cans to buyers on Carousell.
When he was arrested on Sept 2 last year, Chua had three cans of stolen milk powder in his possession, which were seized by the police.
The thefts were uncovered after an assistant manager of a Sheng Siong supermarket branch on Bukit Batok Avenue 6 was doing a stock-take on Aug 18 last year and discovered two cans of Enfamil Pro A+ missing.
The assistant manager then reported the theft to the police that same day.
When surveillance footage was reviewed, a clip on April 25 last year — about four months before the discovery — caught Chua in the act.
Pertaining to the cheating offence, court documents stated that it happened on June 17 last year.
The victim, Mr Heng Xiao Loong, wanted to buy tickets to attend an event at Zouk nightclub. When he could not get them from official sources, he decided to source for two tickets on a Telegram chat group called “SG Clubbing”.
Chua replied to Mr Heng and said that he had a ticket for sale. He then instructed the man to transfer S$50 into his bank account for the ticket and then deleted the chat with the man. He never delivered the ticket.
Chua has since made restitution to the man and the supermarkets from where he stole the milk powder.
‘WE ALL HOPE HE CAN CHANGE’
Before District Judge Kessler Soh handed out his judgement on Tuesday, Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Eugene Phua told the court that he had some concerns about whether Chua would be able to keep to a probation sentence, which places restrictions on the hours that Chua can leave his home.
“Apart from pilfering and cheating, (Chua) has a tendency to stay away from home and keep late nights,” DPP Phua said.
“In particular… the probation report details how the accused stays out late to play mahjong.”
DPP Phua added that there were some concerns with regards to Chua’s penchant for social gambling and it was one of the reasons for his stealing.
Turning to Chua, District Judge Soh said that he was prepared to consider putting him on probation, provided that the young man was willing to comply with the restrictions.
Chua’s grandmother, who was serving as her grandson’s bailor, was then asked to stand before the judge.
She told the judge through a Hokkien translator that she tried to contact Chua every day and still hopes that he can change his ways.
“We all hope he can change,” the judge said in response. “We will place on you the responsibility to help him.”
Chua’s grandmother has to post a bond of S$5,000 to ensure his good behaviour.
For theft, he could have been jailed up to seven years and fined.
For cheating, he could have been jailed up to 10 years and fined.
