Man jailed for stealing $2,350 from orange juice vending machines
A cup of orange juice costs just $2 from the vending machines.
But with a single key, a man was able to steal about $2,350 from the machines in less than an hour.
Lee Zhi Hao, 29, targeted the i.jooz vending machines, looting eight of them on the evening of Feb 24.
He was jailed nine weeks yesterday on three counts of theft, with another five similar charges taken into consideration.
The Malaysian started working as a driver with Fruits Vending, the company which operates the machines, in November last year.
His job was to top up the oranges and clean the machines, which sold freshly-squeezed cups of orange juice for $2 each.
He also had to collect the money from the machines.
But about a month later on Dec 13 2018, he was sacked because of his poor work performance.
While packing up after his termination, Lee found a vending machine key he used for his work.
He kept the key, intending to pilfer the cash from the machines to pay off his debts from gaming.
On Feb 24, Lee wore a red polo T-shirt, a black cap and a surgical mask to commit the crimes.
He started his looting spree at about 7pm, stealing from eight machines around the Fortune Centre area.
It took him less than an hour to steal from all eight machines.
He disposed of his disguise and the key, and used the money to settle his personal debts.
Lee was discovered the next day after an accountant at Fruits Vending highlighted the missing cash to the operations manager, Mr Steve Han Theng Siew.
Mr Han reviewed the CCTV footage from the cameras inside the machines and saw Lee in his disguise.
He made a police report on March 1, and Lee was arrested on March 20.
For each count of theft, Lee could have been jailed up to three years, or fined, or both.
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