Gym staff, 27, gets 2 months' jail for stealing 2 luxury watches worth S$173,000 from Tanjong Pagar gym lockers

A gym assistant was sentenced to two months' jail for stealing two luxury watches worth about S$173,000 on two separate occasions.

He had used the master key to the gym's lockers to steal the Rolex Submariner Hulk and Patek Philippe watches that belonged to two different customers.

The thefts took place over a period of more than a month.

What happened

Howard Lam Wen Jun, 27, was a student at the time and worked part-time as a gym assistant at Gym Virgin Active on the sixth floor of Guoco Tower along Wallich Street, according to court documents.

In the first theft that took place on Jan. 10, 2023 at about 2pm, Lam stole a Rolex Submariner Hulk valued at S$13,300 from a gym locker.

The second theft took place on Feb. 17 between 2:07pm and 2:11pm at the same gym.

Lam stole a Patek Philippe valued at S$160,000, which belonged to a 35-year-old man.

In this second case, the victim had gone to the gym at 1:37pm.

Lam was still an employee of Gym Virgin Active at that time.

At 2:15pm, when the gym goer returned to the locker to retrieve his belongings, he was shocked to find his watch missing and reported it to the police that same day.

Lam had used his master key to open the lockers to steal the luxury watches.

It was not mentioned how Lam knew which lockers contained the luxury watches.

Police arrested Lam at his home on Feb. 28, 2023,

The two watches have been recovered.

The judge said Lam had betrayed the trust of customers twice by using the master key to open the lockers and steal the valuable items.

However, considering that it was Lam's first offence and given his willingness to admit guilt, he was sentenced to two months' jail.

The judge also granted Lam's application to postpone his sentence until Feb. 23.

Top photo via Gym Virgin Active