A district court in Singapore sentenced a 41-year-old domestic helper to jail for two years and four months on Aug. 24, 2023, for stealing S$169,520 from her employer's 94-year-old father's bank account and S$100 cash from her employer.

The accused pleaded guilty to one count of theft as a servant with two charges taken into consideration for sentencing.

Withdrew money from bank account 197 times

According to court documents, Siti Nuryanti, from Indonesia, worked for a 57-year-old man during her offences.

As there was another domestic helper in the household, her role was mainly to care for her employer's children, but she occasionally helped care for her employer's father.

One day in 2022, while accompanying her employer's father to an ATM, she secretly took down the PIN card number.

Since then, between July 2022 and April 2023, she stole the ATM card to withdraw money from his bank account 197 times without his consent.

Her employer made a police report in April 2023 after discovering his father's bank account had large sums of money missing.

After her arrest, Siti admitted using the money to "repay her debts to unlicensed moneylenders" and "remitted them to pay debtors in Indonesia".

Court documents did not reveal the reasons for her debt.

Employer said to have forgiven her

When Shin Min Daily News visited the landed property the victim's family stays in, a person who wishes to remain anonymous told the reporter that loan sharks had sent runners to harass the family in May 2023.

The reporter observed that there were still traces of the white paint on the main gate left behind by the runners.

The source claimed that the domestic worker often bought new clothes and went for manicures.

The source said the employer, who did not know about her offences, saw her spending habits and had to remind her to "save money for her family".

The source also said the employer has since forgiven the domestic helper "due to his religious faith" and only hopes for her to return to her family and take the responsibility of caring for her children.

Top image via Shin Min Daily News