SINGAPORE, July 19 — A domestic worker stole a total of S$28,050 (RM97,495) from her 83-year-old employer, who suffers from dementia, by using the man’s ATM card to make 36 withdrawals over about eight months.

Yesterday, Sriatun, a 45-year-old Indonesian who goes by one name, pleaded guilty to theft and was sentenced to 12 months’ jail.

Another charge of theft, over stealing her employer’s ATM card, was taken into consideration for sentencing.

Sriatun had been working for her employer for two years. She lived with the man and his wife who were both retirees.

Her tasks included taking care of general household chores and providing care to the victim.

She earned a monthly salary of S$700. Court documents stated that during the course of her work, she became aware of the victim’s personal ATM card pin number.

What happened

The court heard that between January 14 and September 24 last year, Sriatun took the victim’s ATM card 19 times.

She then used the card on 36 occasions to withdraw various amounts of cash, ranging from S$200 to S$1,000, from ATM machines around Singapore.

Her last withdrawal of S$300 was made on September 24 last year, leaving the account with S$47.19.

On each occasion after using the ATM card to make an unauthorised cash withdrawal, Sriatun would return the card to the victim’s wallet to avoid detection.

She claimed to have remitted S$11,000 to her family in Indonesia and spent the remaining S$17,050 on her personal expenses.

On November 2 last year at around 10pm, the victim’s son saw a letter of demand from the town council relating to outstanding service and conservancy charges.

He suspected something was amiss, since these payments were usually made to the town council from his father’s bank account via Giro, a recurring automated electronic payment.

He updated his father’s bank book and noticed multiple cash withdrawals that had depleted the money in the account.

He filed a police report on the same day.

No restitution had been made and the money was not recovered.

Anyone who commits theft from their employer can be jailed for up to seven years and be fined.

As her charge was amalgamated, Sriatun could have been sentenced to twice the punishment. — TODAY