Man jailed for abetting theft of cough mixture
When his girlfriend said she needed money, Yap Kailshen suggested she steal cough mixture from the clinic she was working at and sell them.
Ho Min Pei, a student, was then working as a part-time receptionist at T P Sim Family Clinic and Surgery in Bishan Street 11. She agreed and the pair decided that Yap, 27, would look for buyers.
Yesterday, Yap was given four months' jail for instigating Ho, 23, to commit criminal breach of trust of 684 bottles of Dhasedyl cough mixture.
She had taken the medicine worth $6,840 from the clinic between July 2015 and January last year.
Yap also admitted to having 24 bottles of a liquid containing codeine for sale without a licence on Jan 25 last year.
The pair had agreed that Ho would receive $25 from each sale and Yap would keep the rest of the sales proceeds.
Yap had estimated the "market value" for each bottle of cough mixture on the black market to be $35 to $40, but he failed to properly account for how much he sold each bottle for, the court heard.
After she was found out, Ho was terminated in January last year, and she was sentenced to three months' jail. She has since completed her sentence.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Randeep Singh Koonar said that at least 600 bottles of cough mixture were sold for a minimum of $25 each. Ho thus made at least $16,500 based on the profit-sharing agreement. Yap's profit is unknown.
The pair were arrested on Jan 25 last year after Ho misappropriated 24 bottles of cough mixture from the clinic before passing them to Yap.
Yap's lawyer, Ms Choo Yean Lin, said her client regrets his actions and that he committed the offences out of love and infatuation for Ho and merely wanted to lighten her burden.
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