Maid who posed with $54k worth of stolen items jailed
An Indonesian maid stole a Chopard women's watch worth $35,000, a Celine snakeskin handbag that costs $7,500 and a pink Hermes crocodile skin wallet worth $10,000 from her employer and thought she got away with it.
Then, 11 months later, she posted pictures of herself with the stolen items on Instagram while she was working for another employer in Singapore.
But her previous employer, businesswoman Lisa Lee, learnt of this from her sister and informed the police.
Siti Nur Sopiyati, 32, was arrested, and yesterday, she was sentenced to 12 months in jail after admitting to the theft.
She also stole a black T-shirt worth $150 and a gold ring with diamonds worth $1,800 from the Nassim Hill apartment of Madam Lee, 32, some time in January last year.
The prosecution officer, Assistant Superintendent Kevin Lee Ming Woei, said Siti, who worked for Madam Lee from 2013 to March last year, was cleaning the master bedroom when she stole the items from a cupboard.
Together, they were worth $54,450.
She hid them in her bedroom before asking another Indonesian woman to help her send them back to her country.
When Madam Lee found out some of her valuables were missing in March last year, her husband called the police.
He suspected that either Siti or another Indonesian maid who was also working in the household was the culprit.
Nothing incriminating was found on either of them and Madam Lee did not wish to pursue the matter further so both maids were sent back to their agent and eventually returned to Indonesia.
In May last year, Siti returned to work for another household.
She brought the items she had stolen from Madam Lee because she wanted to use them, said ASP Lee.
In November that year, she posted pictures of herself wearing the stolen items on her Instagram page.
Madam Lee's sister spotted the pictures.
All the stolen items have since been recovered.
Madam Lee's husband Lee Wei Loon declined to comment when approached at their home yesterday.
Siti's sentence was backdated to July 25.
She could have been jailed for up to seven years and fined for theft as a servant.
- ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY ZAIHAN MOHAMED YUSOF
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