Man jailed 3 years, caned for working for loansharks
Published on Aug 31, 2011
By Khushwant Singh
He lost his job, his flat, and now he lost his freedom all because of gambling. Lee Kim Boon, a father of three, was jailed three years on Aug 31 and ordered to be caned 15 times for misappropriating nearly $50,000 and on 10 counts of harassing debtors on the orders of a loanshark.
The district court heard that the 41-year-old sales assistant with Super Coffee Corporation was embarrassed that his wife, a logistics executive, was earning twice his $2,000 monthly salary. He resorted to gambling so as to boost his income but sank into debt instead.
In late 2009, he misappropriated $26,918 worth of products from his employer; sold these off, and used the money to pay his debts to the unlicensed moneylenders. Emboldened by his success, he sold another $28,596 worth of goods and pocketed the money in early 2010.
His offences were discovered in an audit in October 2010. The Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau was called in and he was fired.
Now unemployed, Lee sold his flat to get his hands on some money. The plan backfired. There was nothing left after paying the property loans.
Read the full story in Wednesday's edition of The Straits Times.
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