10 months’ jail for technician in Singapore who stole red envelopes with NTUC vouchers, almost S$2K in cash

SINGAPORE: A man who worked as a building technician took advantage of his employment position and stole a number of red envelopes that contained cash and vouchers. 

After pleading guilty, 46-year-old Ramasamy Murugesan, who comes from India, was given a 10-month jail sentence on Sep 21.

Ramasamy had been employed at the OCBC Centre on Chulia St. On two evenings in March, he tampered with the electronic doors in order to gain access after working hours, and availed himself of red envelopes with NTUC vouchers and cash, for a total value of S$1,906.

Prior to the incidents of theft, the worker had experienced financial troubles.

Stealing red packets

The first incident occurred shortly before 11:30 p.m. on Mar 7. Ramasamy unlocked an electronic door to the office and then looked for red envelopes at different workstations. Having found some, he took them. They contained a total of S$1,322 in cash, according to reporting from Shin Min Daily News.

Although he tampered with the door again in order to lock it, he was seen on the office’s surveillance cameras.

The office staff noticed that the red envelopes were missing and told their manager.

Eight days later, Ramasamy, who had planned to sleep at the workers’ recreational centre in the building, remembered that he had seen red packets on the desks of the employees.

Because this was the Lunar New Year celebration period, he knew that there would be money in the envelopes.

He entered an office on the seventh floor of OCBC Centre East’s building at around 8:15 that night, again tampering with the mechanism of an electric door in order to do so. 

Ramasamy discovered more red envelopes that had S$474 in cash. Some also contained  NTUC vouchers worth a total of S$70. Before leaving, he rigged the electric door so it would work normally again.

Less than an hour later, he went into the sixth floor of the building and stole more red envelopes containing cash.

After the thefts were reported, an assistant vice president watched footage from security cameras from the two evenings and discovered that Ramasamy was behind the thefts.

He was arrested on Mar 18, the same day a police report was filed against him.

Ramasamy faced four charges, which included housebreaking and theft. After he pleaded to two of the charges, the other two were taken into consideration for his sentencing.

He has paid back what he stole in full.

The Indian national asked for leniency, saying that he is the only person supporting his family, which has suffered due to his actions. /TISG

Read also: ‘Singapore is very rich’ — Chinese national says as the reason for breaking into SG homes on his first visit, stealing more than S$105K in valuables