A domestic worker exploited the trust of her 75-year-old employer and stole tens of thousands of dollars using his bank card to fund her gambling addiction.
A domestic worker in Singapore took advantage of her elderly employer’s sleep issues, stealing his money and gold jewelry to fund her gambling addiction.
The worker, a 42-year-old named Zaw Zaw Min (name transliterated phonetically), used her 75-year-old employer’s debit card to withdraw $2,000 Singaporean dollars each time, on 43 occasions between December 2024 and July 2025, totaling $86,000 Singaporean dollars stolen.
Investigations also revealed that between January and June 2025, she stole gold jewelry valued at approximately $20,368 Singaporean dollars, which she pawned for money.
The accused was charged with two offenses: criminal breach of trust and theft. The court sentenced her to one year and eight months in prison, according to what was reported by the «Shin Min Daily News» on January 17.
The case details showed that the employer placed significant trust in his worker to manage some of his financial matters. Since May 2024, she was keeping his only bank card, after he handed it to her and gave her the PIN, asking her to withdraw $2,000 monthly for household needs.
He also relied on her to withdraw additional amounts when he wanted to travel to the Malaysian state of Johor. Regarding the jewelry, the worker knew that her employer kept unlocked gold pieces in a drawer and rarely used them, so she stole one piece at a time so he would not notice.
During the period of committing the crimes, she was earning a monthly salary ranging between $700 and $800 Singaporean dollars, and the employer had previously agreed in 2024 to give her a financial advance of $10,000.
To avoid discovery of her actions, Zaw Zaw Min would secretly leave the house while her employer was asleep, then delete the bank notifications related to the withdrawals from his mobile phone.
However, she failed on one occasion to delete a notification in time, which led her employer to confront her. She vowed not to repeat the theft, but later resumed her activities.
Eventually, one of the employer’s friends became aware of the incidents and reported to the police on July 11, 2025, then went to the victim’s house, where he saw the worker in the elevator lobby carrying her passport and baggage.
Upon the arrival of the police, she was found with $2,000 in cash and confessed that it was the money she had stolen from her employer.
During the investigations, the accused expressed deep remorse and expressed her desire to apologize to her employer. She admitted to suffering from a gambling addiction and being unable to control herself, which led her to repeat the theft to finance the addiction. She also clarified that she did not spend all the money on gambling, but sent some of it to her family.
