Woman jailed for stealing friend's luxury watch worth S$33,000, running milk powder scam on Carousell

SINGAPORE: A woman was jailed on Wednesday (Mar 3) for stealing a Patek Philippe watch valued at S$33,000 from her friend's bathroom.

It was one of a number of thefts that Megan Farquhar, 24, committed against friends and her boyfriend in their own homes.

The Singaporean also admitted to running a milk powder scam on Carousell, cheating buyers of more than S$3,300 in total, which has not been paid back to them.

A judge sentenced her to 18 months and two weeks' jail, which was the sentence that the prosecution and defence both sought.

She pleaded guilty to six charges involving two counts of theft, two counts of cheating and dishonestly inducing the delivery of property, and one count each of cheating and forgery for the purpose of cheating.

Another 28 charges were taken into consideration for sentencing.

After stealing the watch from her friend's home on Mar 9, 2020, Farquhar sold it to a shop selling luxury goods for S$12,800 in cash.

The shop owner brought the watch to a servicing centre for Patek Philippe watches, where staff screened the timepiece's serial number on an internal database. By doing so, they ascertained that the watch belonged to the victim and her husband.

Suspicious, the staff asked the shop owner to leave the watch at the servicing centre and informed the victim's husband, who made a police report the next day. The watch was eventually recovered. No restitution has been made to the shop owner. 

Among the other items Farquhar stole was her friend's debit card, on which she rang up more than S$2,500 in 76 transactions over the span of 15 days from May to June 2019, mostly at restaurants and beauty salons.

She received an amalgamated charge of cheating and dishonestly inducing the delivery of property for deceiving 36 merchants in these transactions.

At her boyfriend's home in June 2019, she stole a red packet containing S$1,000 in cash, two pairs of branded shoes belonging to his mother and a branded pouch containing about S$6,000 worth of foreign currencies.

MILK POWDER

Farquhar also admitted to running a milk powder scam on Carousell under the account "babyfever2020".

One customer she cheated was a housewife who paid S$710 for 21 tins of milk powder in February and March 2021. The tins were never delivered.

When questioned by the customer, Farquhar made various excuses, such as alleging that her domestic helper had dropped the milk powder tins on the floor and they were no longer in sellable condition. She said she would make a refund, but never did.

The customer made a police report in March 2021. Investigations revealed that another 20 Carousell buyers were also scammed by Farquhar. They transferred a total of S$3,395 to her. No restitution was made to the victims.

She also cheated a Grab delivery rider of about S$90 in March 2021. She ordered a tin of milk powder but did not pay after it was delivered, and blocked the rider's phone number when he tried to contact her for payment.

The court heard that Grab made the rider bear the loss, and that Farquhar did not make restitution to him.

DINE AND DASH

In another incident on Aug 21, 2020, Farquhar refused to pay after having dinner at PS.Cafe in Paragon with her baby and a friend, ringing up a bill of about S$112.

She refused to pay the bill, instead doctoring three screenshots of an online payment application that she sent to the restaurant's manager, purporting that she had transferred S$120 to him.

Farquhar "could not be bothered to pay the bill" and thought she could cheat the manager into believing that she had done so, said the prosecutor. The manager eventually made a police report.

On the theft charges, Deputy Public Prosecutor Teo Siu Ming pointed out the abuse of trust as an aggravating factor. Farquhar had gained access to the homes of her victims by virtue of her relationships with them, Ms Teo said.

For the milk powder scam, this involved an essential grocery item and such transactions on Carousell were very common, she added.

The prosecutor also highlighted that Farquhar's use of her friend's debit card to cheat the 36 merchants was not a one-off incident, but involved many transactions in a span of two weeks.

Her lawyer Mr Lee Teck Leng said the sentence sought by the prosecution was a result of discussions with the defence.

He said that Farquhar suffers from Graves' disease, a hyperthyroid condition that can cause cognitive and behavioural impairments.

She was seeking psychiatric support and determined to make amends, he said in mitigation. He also said Farquhar's parents, who were in court on Wednesday, have been extremely supportive and encouraging of her.

He asked for compassion as the accused is a single mother who was separated from her baby before the child turned one due to her remand, and hoped to be reunited with her child soon.

Farquhar has been in remand since May 25, 2021, and her sentence was backdated to that date.