She steals cheques and jewellery
Maid jailed eight months for misdeeds against employer
The maid stole 13 cheques from her employer before forging his signature on six of them.
Mercyluna Misa Villajos, 35, encashed a total of $5,550. She also stole jewellery worth $4,060 from her employer, Mr Chee Choe Yin.
The Filipina was jailed eight months yesterday after pleading guilty to two counts of forgery and one count of theft. Four other counts of forgery and a second theft charge were taken into consideration.
The court heard that sometime in November 2014, Villajos found a key to Mr Chee's safe box in one of the pockets of his pants. She kept the key, opened the box and made off with the jewellery - eight rings and a gold necklace.
The following month, when Mr Chee was out of his apartment at Block 37, Cambridge Road, off Keng Lee Road, she helped herself to nine cheques from a cheque book which had been placed on a dining table. She also took four more cheques from another cheque book, which was in a master bedroom drawer.
She then forged Mr Chee's signature and encashed a cheque for $1,250 on Dec 13, 2014.
Villajos claimed that she then remitted the money to her relatives in the Philippines.
Three days later, one of her friends, Ms Arbolonio Kristine Jardinico, encashed another cheque for $2,000 as a favour to her. As Villajos had owed her $1,000, Ms Jardinico kept half of it and gave the remainder to her.
Again Villajos claimed that she then sent the money home to her relatives.
Mr Chee later discovered that his cheques were missing and unauthorised cash withdrawals had been made from his bank account. He made a police report on Jan 6, last year.
The court heard that no restitution had been made.
Villajos' lawyer, Mr Krishna Morthy, told the court that she is a single mother and the sole breadwinner for her two children and aged parents.
He said that in early December 2014, she received news that her mother had stage four liver cancer.
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