Woman fined for stealing S$5,000 gold chain from 76-year-old man in Geylang hotel room
The woman initially kept disputing the facts, saying she had picked up the chain instead, but her sister hissed at her from the public gallery to plead guilty.
Chen Ronghua stole the gold chain while the elderly man was showering. (Photo: iStock)
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SINGAPORE: A 63-year-old woman who stole a gold chain worth S$5,000 (US$3,785) from a 76-year-old man as he showered in a hotel room in Geylang was fined S$5,000 by a court on Thursday (Aug 15).
Chen Ronghua pleaded guilty to one count of theft after extensive wrangling in the court over whether she had picked up the chain or stolen it, accompanied by hisses from her sister in the public gallery urging her to admit guilt.
The court heard that Chen had planned to return to Hong Kong on Aug 1 as she had run out of money.
At about 1pm on Jul 31, she met the Singaporean victim while having lunch near Geylang. The pair agreed that Chen would give the man a massage for S$40.
They went to a hotel, where the elderly man removed his gold chain and placed it in his bag before taking a shower.
While he was showering, Chen stole the chain and left the hotel, heading to where she was staying at Lorong 22, Geylang.
She kept the gold chain in her luggage and headed for Changi Airport, intending to return to Hong Kong on a flight scheduled to take off the next day.
When the victim came out of the toilet, he realised Chen was not there. He later realised his gold chain was missing and called the police.
Meanwhile, Chen had returned to her residence in Geylang as she could not afford a hotel room near Changi Airport.
The police found her in Geylang at about 6.40pm on Jul 31 and arrested her. The gold chain was recovered and returned to the victim.
PLEAD GUILTY, SISTER SHOUTS
On Thursday, Chen turned up in court with her sister. She asked the Mandarin interpreter multiple questions and kept saying she had "picked up" the chain instead of stealing it.
She said she had gone to the police to return the chain she found.
She also said she wanted to know the sentence as she was concerned about it and wanted to return to Hong Kong as soon as possible to receive medical treatment for a condition she had.
As Chen stood in the dock answering questions from the judge and interpreter, her sister sat in the mostly empty public gallery and hissed instructions to her in a Chinese dialect.
She kept asking her to "plead guilty" even when auxiliary police officers shushed her.
The judge stood down the case for Chen to decide what she wanted to do on her own.
"There should not be any interference from members of the gallery," she said. "Otherwise, they need to step out and stay out."
After Chen's sister continued to hiss at Chen and her phone went off loudly multiple times, she was told her phone would be confiscated if it rang again, and she was made to exit the courtroom.
Chen eventually accepted the statement of facts.
However, she has yet to pay the fine as Friday morning. If she does not come up with the money, she will have to serve two weeks' jail in default.
The penalty for theft is a jail term of up to three years, a fine, or both.
