Jailed for stealing mistress' handbags
He did so after they broke up
Angry that his mistress was cheating on him, the married man went to her condominium and stole seven of her Hermes handbags and several Hermes accessories, worth almost $100,000 in total.
Why? Just to get her attention so she would talk to him.
She was not interested and yesterday, Komoco car dealer Rowan Wong Tin Heng, 44, was jailed four months for theft in a home.
Wong had been married since 1994, according to records with the Registry of Marriages, when he had an affair with Ms Hoe Huey Miin, 43, an assistant director at a recruitment agency.
According to court documents, Wong said he had ended the affair because she was seeing someone else.
At about 11.10am on Aug 5 last year, he entered Ms Hoe's condominium at Mohamed Sultan Road using two duplicate access cards that he had made when he was still seeing her.
Ms Hoe was not home then.
He headed for the storage unit where she kept all her Hermes handbags and accessories, which she had purchased from boutique stores and resellers.
He took seven handbags, six bracelets and three charms worth a total of $99,420.
He packed Ms Hoe's luxury belongings into his car, drove home and kept the items in his room.
On the same day, he threw away a pink Hermes Evelyn handbag worth $4,100 at the rubbish disposal area at Concorde Hotel.
About a week later, Wong passed the remaining stolen items to a friend and lied that he had bought them for Ms Hoe and had taken them back since they had broken up.
He also told his friend he did not want his wife to find out about the items.
Even during a police interview, when Wong was shown close-circuit television (CCTV) camera footage of him entering the premises, he denied it was him.
He was later arrested.
Wong was initially charged with housebreaking to commit theft, but the charge was amended to one of theft in a home.
Court papers said Wong has returned the stolen items to Ms Hoe and paid her $4,000 for the bag that he threw away.
BITTER
Yesterday, defence lawyer Anthony Lim said in mitigation that Wong broke up with Ms Hoe, whom he had known since they were young, on angry and bitter terms after she started seeing someone else.
Mr Lim said: "The whole incident only arose because the accused found it hard to let go of the romantic relationship that the victim and he used to share.
"The accused was not in need of money, but took the items from the premises in the hope that the victim would contact him to collect the items from him."
Mr Lim also submitted a letter from Ms Hoe to the court, saying she had forgiven him and would not be taking up any civil suit against Wong.
Mr Teo Hock Seng, Komoco's group managing director, wrote a testimonial saying he would welcome Wong back after serving his sentence.
He said Wong had been working there since 2001.
For committing theft in a home, Wong could have been jailed for up to seven years and fined.
THE THINGS HE STOLE
Purple Hermes Birkin handbag: $15,000
Orange Hermes Birkin handbag: $15,000
Black Hermes Birkin handbag: $8,500
Blue Hermes Birkin handbag: $16,500
Brown Hermes Kelly handbag: $10,200
Pink Hermes Kelly handbag: $17,000
Pink Hermes Evelyn handbag: $4,100
Pink Hermes CDC bracelet: $3,150
Black Hermes CDC bracelet: $2,800
Purple Hermes CDC bracelet: $1,200
Green Hermes CDC bracelet: $1,600
Brown Hermes bracelet: $870
Red Hermes Kelly Dog Extreme bracelet: $1,200
Black Hermes Rodeo charm: $800
Pink Hermes Rodeo charm: $600
Purple Hermes Rodeo charm: $900