Man takes $77,200 from new job months after prison release

Barely six months after leaving prison for taking his clients' money, a man made off with $77,200 in cash from two customers at the new company he had just joined.

In 2020, Eugene Chia Hsien Yau was given 10 months' jail for pocketing $134,000 in clients' payments for renovation projects.

He was an interior designer for an interior design firm. He was released from prison in May 2021.

The Yellow Ribbon Project, which promotes the acceptance of ex-offenders, referred Chia to work for another interior design company.

But between November 2021 and March 2022, he made off with cash totalling $77,200 from two customers.

On Jan 12, Chia, 43, pleaded guilty to one count of criminal breach of trust and was sentenced to 15 months' jail. He has since made full restitution.

Chia's job was to discuss interior design projects with customers and collect payments from them.

But he felt he was not earning enough to cover his expenses, as he and his wife were expecting a child. Details about his salary were not disclosed in court documents.

Between Nov 9, 2021, and March 10, 2022, he dishonestly misappropriated cash totalling $77,200 from two customers and spent it on personal expenses.

Chia's offences came to light when a project team linked to one of the affected customers told the company's director no payment had been received for the works.

The customer said he had transferred money to Chia's personal bank account.

The director confronted Chia, who admitted what he had done, and the police were alerted in April 2022.

On Jan 12, Deputy Public Prosecutor Ethan Lee urged the court to sentence him to between 16 and 18 months' jail.

He added: "It should be noted that the accused reoffended for the same offence barely half a year after being released from his prison sentence for his previous offence.

"A sufficient uplift must be ordered given that the accused failed to learn from a 10-month term that was previously imposed for identical offences."

Chia's bail was set at $20,000, and he is expected to surrender himself at the State Courts on April 8 to begin serving his sentence.