We all know that breaking any law in Singapore will have serious consequences.
After all, we are known as the “fine city” for a reason, and there are harsh punishments to almost every offence.
This applies to everyone, even for police officers.
Police Officer Jailed 3 Months For Stealing
A Singapore police officer has been slapped with a 3-month jail sentence for stealing $300 from a tourist’s lost-and-found handbag.
Pat Chung Keong, now aged 26, was sentenced to three months’ jail on Tuesday, 1 September, after pleading guilty to the charge of criminal breach of trust as a public servant.
He stole six $50 bills from a tourist handbag that was handed in as a lost-and-found item at Whampoa Neighbourhood Police Post (NPP).
At the time where he conducted this offence, he held the rank of Sergeant 2.
Stole Money From Lost-And-Found Handbag
A 46-year-old woman found a handbag at a bus stop in front of Novena Church on 5 August last year, and she brought it to Whampoa NPP to make a police report.
Chung was manning the counter that day, and the lady informed him that she had found a handbag containing a significant amount of cash.
She also asked him to document the items, in view of their number and importance.
However, Chung told her that he would handle the matter himself and that he would file a police report on her behalf.
Once he took the bag from her, CCTV footage revealed that he opened the wallet inside the bag and separated the Indonesian rupiah from the Singapore currency, and placed both sets side by side on the counter.
He then stole the Singapore bills, by leaning forward to hide what he was doing from the CCTV cameras and sneakily transferred the bills from his right palm to his right trouser pocket.
Chung ended up taking the money home and did not report that there was any cash found in the missing handbag.
The handbag actually belonged to an 18-year-old Indonesian who arrived in Singapore on 5 August 2019.
She made a report about her missing bag at Toa Payoh Neighbourhood Police Centre on that day itself, stating that it contained her Indonesian passport, as well as $300 in cash.
The next day, she was informed that her handbag was at Kampong Java Neighbourhood Police Centre and went to collect it, only to realise that the $300 was missing.
Chung eventually came clean and returned the money three weeks later, on 29 August 2019.
He Took The Money On Impulse
So why did he do it?
Chung’s family was not well-to-do and they heavily relied on his salary for financial support.
He was also going through a difficult time back then, as his mother had suffered a stroke and he was one of her primary caregivers.
Thus, he took the money out of impulse.
But of course, that is not an excuse as stealing is still stealing.
Since he has been charged with the most serious form of criminal breach of trust, Deputy Public Prosecutor Seah Koh sought for at least four-and-a-half months’ jail time.
However, his lawyer, Ms Kate Loo, asked for five weeks’ jail instead, due to to the financial situation that he was in at the time.
She also said that he had shown remorse for his actions and returned the exact same bills that he had taken.
Chung was suspended from service after he admitted to pocketing the bills, and his monthly salary was cut from $2,500 to $1,000. He could not take on any other jobs as it would be considered moonlighting.
SPF’s Response
The Singapore Police Force has spoken to TODAY about Chung’s incident.
“The SPF take the security of found property placed in police custody very seriously. There are measures in place to ensure safe and proper handling of all found property. This was an isolated case and does not represent the professional and disciplined conduct of our SPF officers,” said an SPF spokesperson.
For criminal breach of trust as a public servant, Chung could have been jailed up to 20 years and fined.
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