Three maids jailed for stealing employer's 283 'unused' items intended for shipment to Philippines
Three Filipina domestic workers took “unused” items ranging from apparel, baby diapers to tissue paper packets in their employer’s bungalow and were trying to ship them in boxes to the Philippines when they were caught by their employer.
One of the boxes containing the stolen loot was en route to Philippines but authorities managed to intercept and recover it.
Filipina nationals Panganiban Marisol Franada 32, Sumague Mery Grace Anday, 29, and Lasam Princess Joy Cariaga, 30, had been working at their employer Yang Yuen Ling’s bungalow for between 11 months and five years when they committed the offence.
The trio were sentenced to 14 weeks’ jail each on Friday (4 May) after each pleaded guilty to one count of stealing 283 items from Yang’s Queen Astrid Park home.
The items, which also included at least 100 pieces of children’s clothing, milk bottles, keychains, cleansing wipes, and books, were worth a total $5416.95.
On 10 October last year, the three maids were cleaning the kids’ bedroom when Sumague suggested to the other two to take the clothing items as their employer’s children could no longer wear them. She suggested that they take the used clothes, unused kitchenware and unused shoes stored in the basement of the house.
The other two agreed and helped each other pack the items to send them back to their respective families in the Philippines within a week. Sumague arranged with an airfreight company to have three empty parcel boxes delivered to the house.
Between 12 and 14 October, the trio discreetly pocketed and packed the items in their own bedrooms. Sumague completed packing her parcel on 13 October and engaged an airfreight company to collect and send her parcel to the Philippines. Her parcel was subsequently recovered by the authorities before it reached the Philippines.
Yang and her husband returned to the house around 10pm on 14 October when they noticed that Panganiban was in the house without the other two maids. Yang checked the maids’ bedroom and found two large parcels, prompting her to call the police. The maids were arrested a while later.
Panganiban was found in possession of 137 items amounting to $2,509.34, while Lasam’s parcel contained 114 stolen items worth $2,148.81. Sumague was found to have pocketed 32 items worth $758.80.
State Prosecuting Officer Lam Peng Choy said that it is “in the public’s interest that employees such as domestic helpers who have ready, easy and constant access to their employer’s properties be deterred from stealing from them”.
He noted that Sumague, as the mastermind, had suggested the act of stealing but should have comparable sentences with the other two as the value of her loot was lower.
All three maids, who had no legal representation, said through an interpreter that they had families to support in the Philippines and were remorseful for their actions. They pleaded for leniency.
District Judge Diana Haven Ho said that there was a need for deterrence given the maids’ easy access to the items.
For committing theft while employed as a servant, each of the maids could have been jailed up to seven years and fined.
Other Singapore stories:
Man who demanded ‘cash or body’ from woman over her nude photos jailed
Man who gave deceased colleague’s details to police to cover up traffic offences jailed
