Sleeping Pill Beauty
MEET the sleeping beauty thief.
She flirted with men, sometimes seducing them with promises of sex. She would then spike their drinks, and once they were unconscious, she would slip away with their valuables.
She was so skilled, she could hide sleeping pills in her mouth before dropping them into her victims' drinks as she drank from their cups.
Last year alone, she had at least 14 victims
Last week, she pleaded guilty to four counts of theft and another four counts of causing hurt by poison with the intention of stealing. Another 10 counts of each of the offences were taken into consideration.
Vicky Herman Quek Bee Lan, 44, has had years of practice.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Adrian Loo said Quek had been sent to jail in 1994, 1996, 1999 and 2000 for theft, but did not learn from her mistakes.
He added: "Evidently, the accused is unrepentant and unremorseful, nor has she been sufficiently deterred by her previous convictions and sentences.
"Instead, she appears to have not only returned to her old ways, but also, polished her methods and got better at evading the police."
She was caught only after trying to buy more Dormicum, a sleeping pill.
Quek struck at coffee shops from Bedok to Jurong in search of elderly men, especially those with Rolex watches.
When they passed out, she would make away with their valuables, stealing as much as $10,000 on one occasion.
Pretty, petite and smooth-talking, she made away with more than $40,000 from at least 14 victims over fourmonths last year.
With the money, she went for Botox and laser treatments to make herself look younger.
She also bought Dormicum tablets for her own consumption and for use on more victims.
In court, District Judge Hamidah Ibrahim called for a corrective training report.
Corrective training is harsher than a jail term because it does not include the usual one-third remission of the imprisonment term for good behaviour.
Her victims were men aged between 43 and 75.
To some, she masqueraded as a freelance design coordinator. To others, she pretended to be a prostitute from Malaysia.
Quek, who is unemployed, had previously worked as a lounge hostess and a tuition teacher.
She was slick. True to her predatory instincts, she had little care for her victims.
One of them, Mr Jeffrey Ng Soon Koy, 61, a supervisor, was seen in a daze at 4.18pm on 22 Dec last year, struggling to stand properly.
A man who had spotted Mr Ng called the police, saying: "I'm not sure if he needs medical attention or is high on drugs."
Quek had approached Mr Ng at a United Overseas Bank branch at New Upper Changi Road and started chatting with him.
When they went to a nearby MacDonald's restaurant, she bought him a cup of coffee, and slipped a Dormicum tablet into the drink.
Mr Ng felt drowsy after 10 minutes, and lost consciousness shortly after. It was only when Mr Ng woke up in the hospital that he realised Quek had taken $1,130 in cash and valuables from him.
Just 20 days earlier, Quek had approached Mr Lau PohChye, 43,who is self-employed.
He was drinking coffee alone at a coffee shop in Bedok North when she sat at the same table and struck upa conversation with him.
Later, she took a sip of his coffee, and dropped a Dormicum tablet into the drink.
She had hidden the tablet in her mouth.
Quek then took Mr Lau, who felt drowsy after drinking the coffee, to a void deck, and took his Rolex watch and jewellery.
Persistent
With her apparent insatiable desire to enhance her looks,Quek was not one to take rejection.
On 13 Nov last year, she approached Mr Tung Tuang Seng, 69, a retiree, telling him that she was a prostitute from Malaysia.
Mr Tung gave her $2 to buy coffee, and told her to leave him alone. However, she came back with two cups of coffee. One of them had been spiked.
After Mr Tung drank the coffee, Quek persuaded him to follow her to the second storey of Blk 218 Bedok North Street 1. When he passed out, she took his Rolex watch, worth $5,050.
Another victim was Mr Chan Eng Ann, 60, a dispatch driver, whom Quek had approached at Waterloo Streeton4 Aug.
She suggested having a drink at a coffee shop at Fu Lu Shou Complex, and dropped a Dormicum tablet into his coffee.
She then suggested going to a hotel in Bugis.
When Mr Chan fell asleep in the hotel room, Quek slipped away with his Rolex watch, handphones, jade ring and other valuables.
Mr Chan is still hoping to recover the stolen items worth more than $10,000. (See report above.)
But Quek's stealing spree soon came to an end when one of her victims spotted her in a clinic.
He called the police,who spoke to the doctor at the clinic.
The police got a list of the patients who obtained Dormicum pills from the clinic, and went to the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority, where they got a photograph of Quek.
The police finally caught her after following up on the leads.
Asking the court to sentence Quek to corrective training,DPP Loo said that Quek's plans were premeditated and deliberate.
She had selected her victims carefully, visiting coffee shops and hawker centres to look for elderly victims and offer them sex, exploiting their age and lust.
If they were in a crowded location, she would lead her victims to less crowded places before robbing them.
He added that Quek travelled randomly to avoid forming a pattern which could be picked up by the police, and avoided taking items which she thought were traceable by the police, such as 4-D tickets.
She would also escape by taxi, to avoid detection.
DPP Loo said that Quek did not deserve sympathy because she committed the offences out of desperation.
He said: "Instead, the offences were committed for no reason other than avarice and vanity."
Yesterday, the sentencing was postponed to get a corrective training report.
Quek is due for sentencing on 7 Apr.
