SINGAPORE - In need of cash to repay both licensed and unlicensed moneylenders, a jewellery store sales executive stole 20 gold plates worth over $124,000 in total and $20,000 in cash from his then employer.
Jacky Tan Jun Jia, who had a gambling addiction, was employed at Chow Tai Fook Jewellery at Bugis Junction shopping mall when he committed the offence in June 2024.
Tan, 34, who is no longer working there, was sentenced to 20 months’ jail on March 14 after he pleaded guilty to a theft charge.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Claire Poh said that due to his online gambling addiction, Tan started borrowing money from licensed and unlicensed moneylenders in 2023.
At around 9am on June 18, 2024, he reported for work and noticed that a safe inside the store’s office was open.
He told his colleagues about an hour later that he was unwell and asked to perform cashier duties inside the office.
Tan was performing stock taking at around 3pm when his colleagues advised him to visit a doctor.
He then hatched a plan to steal the cash and valuables from the store.
At around 5.20pm, he removed 20 gold plates and $20,000 in cash from the safe, and placed them into his pockets and bag. A CCTV camera inside the store recorded him committing the offence.
He left the store soon after.
Tan took a taxi to a pawnshop in Bedok North and received nearly $48,000 after he pawned 10 of the gold plates.
According to him, he used nearly $68,000 of his ill-gotten gains to repay his loans and handed the remaining 10 gold plates to an unlicensed moneylender known only as “Ah Wee”.
Tan also told investigators that he handed his wife $3,000 in cash and deposited $4,000 into his own bank account.
His colleagues discovered that the gold plates and cash were missing at around 7.30pm, and the store’s assistant manager alerted the police.
Shortly before 9pm, Tan sent the assistant manager a text message and came clean about what he had done.
DPP Poh said: “The accused then switched off his mobile phone and disposed it at the back of a lorry in the vicinity of Block 216 Bedok North Road.
“He also contacted his brother and told him that he had committed a crime and would be uncontactable.”
Tan surrendered himself to the police and officers arrested him at around 10.15pm that day.
They later seized $3,000 in cash from him and the 10 pawned gold plates from the pawnshop.
Defence lawyers Sarbrinder Singh and Nicholas Say from Sanders Law had pleaded for their client to be given up to 18 months’ jail.
They stated in court documents: “Due to repeated harassment and threats from illegal moneylenders, (Tan) succumbed to pressure and committed the offence. He was in need of funds and didn’t know what to do.”
The lawyers also said that their client is extremely remorseful and had fully cooperated with the authorities.
On March 14, Tan’s bail was set at $20,000 and he is expected to begin serving his sentence on March 28.
* Shaffiq Alkhatib is The Straits Times’ court correspondent, covering mainly criminal cases heard at the State Courts.
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