Man Jailed for Stealing Grocery Vouchers & Burning Some as Offerings for Late Wife

Last year, besides the Covid-19 pandemic, there was a spate of thefts happening at HDB letterboxes across Singapore.

It got so bad that the authorities decided to hand-deliver the second tranche of Budget 2020 Grocery Vouchers.

Well, one of the thieves has been charged and sentenced to jail.

Here’s What Happened

47-year-old Alvin Law Choon Huat heard about the voucher distribution last year in October on social media.

The vouchers were meant for needy adult Singaporeans residing in one- and two-room HDB flats to help cope with the economic difficulties caused by the pandemic.

When he checked his letterbox, he was upset not to see any vouchers distributed to him.

He then checked the other letterboxes in the same block, Blk 51 Marine Terrace.

According to reports, Law found it unfair that other people received the vouchers while he, presumedly in the same situation, didn’t.

Which probably led to his next few actions.

Stealing Grocery Vouchers & Burning Some Of Them

Law targeted letterboxes with open flaps or had damaged openings.

He managed to steal the envelopes containing the vouchers from four victims.

Each envelope has 15 vouchers valued at $10 each.

In total, he managed to steal $600 worth of grocery vouchers.

A few days after his theft, his own set of vouchers reached him.

Now, you’ll be thinking, he’ll return the vouchers, right? Fair mah.

No, he did not.

Instead of returning the stolen vouchers, he used them to buy groceries from NTUC Fairprice and Giant, and even purchased a vacuum cleaner.

For the unutilised vouchers, he burnt them as offerings for his late wife.

Caught

After coming across an open letterbox, the police investigated and caught Law in action on CCTV footage.

He was arrested on 29 Oct 2020 and the vacuum, as well as two chicken franks bought with the stolen vouchers, were seized by the police.

The prosecutor in charge of the case asked for a one-month jail term for Law, pointing out that the vouchers were clearly meant to help the less fortunate.

Law, who was unrepresented, pleaded for leniency, saying that after he had received his own vouchers, he did not know what to do with the stolen vouchers as he would be arrested if he had brought them to the police.

No restitution has been made for the theft.

Law pleaded guilty to two charges of theft, and another two charges were taken into consideration.

On 7 Jan, he was sentenced to four weeks’ jail and will be starting his sentence on 15 Feb.

Law had requested to start his sentence after Chinese New Year as he wants to take care of his teenage daughter during this period.

Law is the first to be charged for the theft of the Budget 2020 Grocery Vouchers. More is likely to come as the police made a series of arrests last year with regards to the thefts.

Featured Image: Singapore Police Force