What would you do if you needed some extra money?
- Get a side gig
- Shamefully ask your parents for cash
- Come up with the next ‘Amazon’ or ‘Google’
Option 2 is embarrassing, and 3 requires too much thinking and will probably end in failure.
This is why most of us go for option 1, as we can make some money on the side by working a few more hours a week.
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One IT engineer, however, chose secret option number 4: steal laptops from the government and sell them on Carousell.
IT Engineer Stole & Sold Laptops Meant for MOH Officers to Manage COVID-19
The protagonist in this tale is Muhammad Fakhrurradzi Mohamed Omar, a 25-year-old who was working for an agency engaged by NCS, an information technology company.
Late last year, Fakhrurradzi was deployed to the Ministry of Health (MOH) office at HarbourFront Centre to reformat or repurpose their laptops.
These laptops were issued to MOH officers by the Ministry of Finance to manage the COVID-19 pandemic
Despite this, Fakhrurradzi hatched a plot which involved stealing the government-issued laptops, as he needed money.
Between 16 December last year and 14 January, Fakhrurradzi repeatedly went to the storage room on Level 12 to steal laptops.
He would only take a few laptops at a time to avoid raising suspicions.
Each time, he would take the laptops, keep them in his spare bag at his cubicle, and only leave the office once his shift ended.
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He then sold the laptops on Carousell, and even to some secondhand laptop shops. He told potential buyers on Carousell that the laptops were secondhand, even though they were brand new, as he wanted to avoid any questions of where they were sourced from.
Offences Discovered During Equipment Check
It was MOH’s chief information security officer Wong Kok Peng who grew suspicious after conducting an equipment check.
He noticed that some laptops overseen by Fakhrurradzi were missing, and filed a police report on 15 Jan.
In total, the stolen laptops amounted to S$33,406.04, yet Fakhrurradzi earned only S$6,380 from his illicit sales.
Only two laptops have been recovered by the police since his arrest.
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Jailed for 11 Months
For his crimes, the 25-year-old was sentenced yesterday (5 Aug) to 11 months’ imprisonment.
He pleaded guilty to three out of ten charges of theft in dwelling, with the remaining seven taken into consideration for sentencing.
Fakhrurradzi’s defence lawyer asked for leniency, saying her client had committed the theft for “his family’s survival”, and that the earnings from the sale were spent on the family’s monthly expenses.
The judge, however, noted that there was premeditation in Fakhrurradzi actions, as he took only a few laptops at once.
The prosecution said his crime was “especially egregious” given that they were supposed to be used to manage COVID-19.
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The 25-year-old has not made restitution, as he spent all the money he had earned.
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