On Friday, a maid in Singapore was sentenced to one month in jail after stealing about S$4,600 USD from her employer’s family.
The woman sent most of the products home to Indonesia. She bought clothes, makeup, and mobile phones with the remainder.
The court heard that Bela, had no other way to pay for the money she owed her employer after using her whole salary to make restitution.
Bela pleaded guilty to one count of theft, while another was taken into consideration.
Bela began working for her employers in April 2020. She cooked for the family and did household chores, and was given access to bedrooms of the first victim- a 42-year-old woman- as well as her 74-year-old father.
One night while she was staying the victim’s house, she found an unsecured wallet and saw the victim’s password in a book. The victim’s father also kept his safe in a cupboard in her room.
In the span of a year, Bela took at least S$3,150 from the wallet.
Over the course of several transactions, she transferred S$3,390 to her family in Indonesia.
She used the money to buy clothes, cosmetics, a watch and two mobile phones.
On December 30, 2021, the first victim questioned Bela and he admitted to stealing.
The stolen money that was used to buy items from Bela had to be confiscated – 25 items in all, including jeans, jackets, shirts, liquid lipsticks, body lotion, and night cream.
The prosecutor asked for one to two months’ jailtime in order to punish the defendant for his/her crime. However, the judge also considered that this person had made restitution and that it was over a significant period of time.
The defendant, who did not have a lawyer, stood at the podium and asked for mercy using an interpreter. He said he would like to go home to Indonesia.
The judge asked if Bela could pay the remaining restitution. In response, she said she had nothing left and couldn’t afford to provide.
Her jail sentence was back-dated to the date of her arrest in August.
For theft in her home, she could have been jailed up to seven years and fined.