Court
Domestic helper, 28, steals over S$56,000 from S'pore employer, 82, to fund online gambling, gets 1 year jail
She stole the money on at least 57 separate occasions over eight months.
Images via Canva for illustrative purposes only
A 28-year-old Indonesian domestic worker was sentenced to one year in jail after she stole over S$56,000 in cash from her 82-year-old employer to top up her online gambling account.
Shin Min Daily News reported that Khairunisa Pryska Dianti was responsible for caring for her employer's daily needs.
After stealing the money on at least 57 occasions over eight months, she pleaded guilty on Jul. 21 to one count of theft.
Stole money at least 57 times
In October 2025, the accused secretly memorised her employer's ATM PIN number while assisting the elderly woman in using her debit card to withdraw money.
Addicted to online gambling, Khairunisa came up with the idea to steal to raise funds for her gambling, Shin Min reported.
Between October 2025 and May 12, 2026, she took her employer's bank card from her handbag at least 57 times while the elderly woman was sleeping or watching television.
Despite pretending to go shopping, Khairunisa had been visiting ATMs near Tiong Bahru MRT station to withdraw money.
According to Shin Min, she stole between S$500 and S$1,000 from the her employer's account each time.
Joint account funds
When her employer's personal account balance became insufficient, Khairunisa would transfer funds from the joint account of the elderly woman and her son, into the elderly woman's account.
Khairunisa then continued to withdraw money, and stole a total of S$56,071.71 without her employer's knowledge, Shin Min reported.
After each successful transaction, Khairunisa would transfer the money to her own account before transferring it to an Indonesian bank account through a remittance company.
She would then use the money to top up her gambling account but eventually lost all the money.
Discovered crime, arrested
On the evening of May 12, 2026, the victim's son discovered unusual transactions in the joint account.
After inquiring with the bank, he uncovered multiple unauthorised transfers and withdrawals and confronted Khairunisa the following day.
She admitted to the crime, and he immediately reported it to the police.
Shin Min reported that the police arrested Khairunisa and recovered S$2,400 of stolen money, which was returned to the victim.
To date, Khairunisa has not made full restitution.
