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Maid jailed after stealing S$30,000 worth of branded handbags, jewellery from employer to sell
Raj Nadarajan/TODAYSINGAPORE — In a bid to repay loans she owed to friends and pay for her son’s operation back in the Philippines, stole S$30,700 worth of luxury handbags and jewellery from her employer and sold them for S$10,280.
After the domestic worker was nabbed and charged, she broke the law again and stole S$450 cash from her hostel roommate’s wallet.
The 28-year-old Filipina was jailed for one year and two weeks on Monday (Feb 14) after pleading guilty to two counts of theft. Another similar charge was taken into consideration for sentencing.
The court heard that Meneses began working for her South Korean employer, who lived at a condominium in the upscale River Valley area, around May last year.
Her job scope included taking care of the woman’s nine-year-old daughter, picking the girl up from school and performing household chores. She earned S$750 a month, was given Sundays off and slept in her own room.
During the first month of her employment, her employer paid her S$100 more on her request. The following two months, Meneses asked for more money again and was paid an extra S$200 and S$300 respectively.
Meneses had access to all the rooms in the apartment, including the bedroom which was always left unlocked. Her employer kept an assortment of jewellery and handbags in an unlocked wardrobe there.
In June last year, her employer realised that two Tiffany & Co rings were missing from her bedroom, but she did not think much about this as she presumed that she had misplaced them within the apartment.
Then, a couple of months later on Aug 19, she discovered that five of her Chanel handbags were also missing. She then made a police report.
During police investigations, Meneses admitted to committing the thefts over at least three occasions between May and August. She took the items when the family was not home and she would immediately leave the apartment to sell the items.
She sold three handbags through a 46-year-old friend, Parantar Marjorie. She told Parantar that she had an Indian boyfriend who worked in the IT department at Chanel and could buy handbags at a discounted price.
Parantar believed this and bought the handbags, which were valued at about S$15,000 in total, for about S$7,450.
Meneses gave a S$1,100 Hermes bracelet to Parantar for free and sold the Tiffany & Co rings at a pawnshop in Lucky Plaza for S$920.
While waiting for her court case, Meneses then stayed at Heritage Hostel and was given the contact of the Philippines Embassy here to get help.
On Oct 14 last year, her roommate went for breakfast and left her wallet unattended in the room. Seeing this, Meneses took S$400 and decided to remit S$100 to the Philippines, spending the rest on her personal expenses.
The victim did not report Meneses to the police because she did not want the matter to blow up, but two days later, Meneses again stole S$50 in cash when the other woman again left her wallet unattended.
When the victim lodged a police report, Meneses claimed that she had not stolen the money. She eventually admitted to the offences on Oct 20.
For committing theft in the capacity of a servant, Meneses could have been jailed for up to seven years and fined.
