Pat Chung Keong, 26, was sentenced to 3 months’ jail on September 1 after pleading guilty to the charge of criminal breach of trust as a public servant.
He reportedly took six $50 notes from a wallet inside a handbag that someone found and handed over to Whampoa Neighbourhood Police Post.
Pat was a 2nd sergeant when he commited the offence.
The victim, an 18-year-old Indonesian who arrived in Singapore last year on August 5, made a report at Toa Payoh Neighbourhood Police Centre that evening about her lost handbag which contained about $300 in cash and her Indonesian passport.
A 46-year-old woman found the bag at a bus stop in front of Novena Church, then she took it to Whampoa NPP where she made a police report about finding the lost item.
Pat was stationed at the counter that evening when the woman told him about the bag with a huge amount of cash that she found, and she asked him to document the items because she thought it was important.
But Pat told her that it wasn’t necessary because he would file a police report for her.
The handbag was handed over to him and the woman left.
CCTV footage then revealed that Pat subsequently took the money out of the wallet inside the bag, separated the Indonesian currency from the Singapore currency and placed them side by side on the counter.
He then held the Singapore notes on his right hand and leaned forward to hide them from the CCTV, putting the money into his pocket.
Pat then took the money home and kept it in his wardrobe without making a record of the cash in the counf property report.
The following day, the victim called the Found and Unclaimed Property Office (FUPO) to check on her lost item, and found out that her bag was found and held at Kampong Java Neighbourhood Police Centre.
So she went to collect her bag, and she realised that she was missing $300.
Pat was then confronted with evidence of his crime and he returned the money more than three weeks later, on August 29, 2019.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Seah Koh asked for imprisonment of 4.5 months, highlighting that Pat was charged with the most serious form of criminal breach of trust.
Ms Kate Loo from Ling Law Corporation, who was Pat’s lawyer, requested for 5 weeks jail instead, citing Pat’s family’s financial struggles and how they are depending on his salary.
She also added that Pat’s mother suffered a stroke and he was one of her caregivers.
Requesting for leniency, she added that Pat worked as a police officer without any disciplinary issues for 2 years.
His month;y salary of $2,500 was reduced to $1,000 after the incident, which greatly affected him and his family, and he couldn’t take on other jobs because that would be moonlighting.
She also argued that he was remorseful and returned the exact same bills that he stole, saying that he committed the theft out of impulse.
Chung could have been jailed up to 20 years and fined for criminal breach of trust as a public servant.