Domestic helper, 27, in S'pore steals S$17,000 from employer’s children, 11 & 12, to fund online gambling

A 27-year-old domestic worker was sentenced to 10 months’ jail after stealing S$17,000 from her employer’s children aged 11 and 12, to fund her online gambling addiction.

The domestic worker, Mai Aye Su Naing, pleaded guilty to the offences on Jun. 3, Shin Min Daily News reported.

Gambling

According to charge sheets seen by Mothership, Mai worked at a house in Queen Astrid Park.

She reportedly began working for the family in March 2025.

According to Zaobao, Mai came across an online slot machine game on Facebook in early February.

After downloading the game, she discovered that she needed to top up her account using Myanmar money.

This led her to consider stealing cash from her employer’s children.

Theft

She found a blue box containing cash and a key in a drawer in one of the children's rooms.

After opening the box, she stole S$1,000 and met a man who helped her convert the money into Myanmar currency.

She deposited it into her gaming account, but quickly lost all her funds.

To recover her losses, she stole two more times over the next two days.

Several days later, she stole another S$4,600.

She subsequently discovered six red packets containing a total of S$6,000.

To avoid suspicion, she left S$100 in each packet and took the remaining S$5,400.

According to court documents, the amount stolen totalled S$17,000.

After each occasion of theft, she met the same man to exchange the stolen money for gaming funds.

Mai claimed that her gambling account was eventually frozen.

This prevented her from withdrawing funds.

Mai said she won money on three occasions but was never able to cash out her winnings.

Discovery

On Feb. 27 at about 9:30 pm, the children discovered that their money was missing.

Their mother questioned Mai, who then admitted to stealing the money.

Mai was subsequently arrested.

Premeditated

The prosecution said Mai had premeditated the offences and abused the trust placed in her by her employer’s children, and committed six thefts within a month.

She has also made no restitution.

Mai pleaded for leniency and said she knew she had committed a mistake.

She hoped to apologise to her employer’s family.

She added that due to her family's poverty, she was unable to make compensation and hoped to return to Myanmar as soon as possible.