Police officer jailed for taking money from lost wallets
A policeman was jailed for three months yesterday after he admitted to taking money from lost and found wallets that were reported to the police station.
Isaac Lim Jun Cheng, 24, admitted to one count of criminal breach of trust.
At the time of the incident, Lim was attached to the Pasir Ris Neighbourhood Police Centre as a ground response force officer.
In November 2018, Singaporean Nor Hashima Ismail was having a meal with a friend at a hawker centre when she lost her wallet.
She made a police report two days later about her missing wallet, which contained various cards including her NRIC and some cash.
A passer-by found Ms Hashima's wallet near the drinks stall in the hawker centre and passed it to the owner of the drinks stall, Mr Balakrishna Kandasamy.
Mr Balakrishna recognised that the wallet belonged to Ms Hashima from her NRIC as she was a regular customer of his stall.
He decided to keep the wallet with him, intending to return it to her when he saw her again.
He later asked his son to go to Ms Hashima's address in her NRIC to return the wallet, Deputy Public Prosecutor Lee Wei Liang said.
NOT AT HOME
As Ms Hashima was not at home, Mr Balakrishna's son decided to hand it to the police. He went to the police centre, where Lim was on duty.
Lim decided to keep the $180 cash in the wallet for himself, and did not lodge a report that he received the wallet.
He then contacted Ms Hashima and told her to collect the wallet, but lied that it had been found by the roadside so she would not suspect him of taking the money.
Lim's lie was exposed after Ms Hashima ran into Mr Balakrishna, and she told him about the missing notes in her wallet. She then lodged a police report.
Investigations revealed that Lim had taken cash from other wallets twice, in June and August that year.
On these occasions, Lim had lodged reports to document the receipt of the wallets, but omitted to mention the notes in the wallet when describing the contents, to avoid detection.
In all, Lim took $207. He spent the money on personal expenses.
The police said in a statement yesterday that Lim had been suspended since January last year and disciplinary proceedings have commenced against him.
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