Owner lets new hire rest overnight in AMK shop, he texts her ‘TQ’ and allegedly disappears with $100 cash
A woman let her new hire stay in her shop overnight out of kindness, only to later discover that he had allegedly stolen $100 from the cash box.
He also apparently texted her “TQ” and then blocked her and disappeared.
Stomper X, the owner and director of Ace Blade Barber at Block 532 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 10, said she had recently hired the man from Malaysia.
According to X, the man had travelled directly from Melaka to the shop for orientation on Aug 31. However, he was late and arrived only at around 10.30pm, citing unexpected delays.
“He was supposed to stay at a friend’s place, but said the friend was not able to pass him the keys, etc,” recounted X, who had been in the shop to welcome the man.
“Hence, he requested to stay the night and said he would go to the friend’s place in the morning, otherwise he would be stranded without any accommodation.”
X said that she trusted the man and allowed him to stay the night “out of goodwill”. Not only did she pass the shop keys to the man, but she also told him that he was free to watch television and use the aircon and fan if needed.
“He promised to settle his accommodation in the morning once I came back to open the shop,” added X.
Man disappeared and cut contact after odd text
However, things took an unexpected turn, with X receiving a message saying “TQ”, which the man sent at around 6am the next day.
When asked to clarify what the message meant, X told Stomp that the man simply texted “TQ”, a common abbreviation for “thank you”.
The Stomper saw the message at about 10am. Finding it odd, she decided to check her shop’s CCTV footage to see if there was anything amiss.
“CCTV footage shows him going to our cash box, taking cash from it and leaving the shop at around 6.30am,” said X. “He left the keys at the door.”
X added that she was unable to contact the man because he had blocked her.
New hire allegedly takes money from cash box at AMK barber shop
Footage shared with Stomp shows the man opening a drawer and rifling through the cash box at about 6.34am.
He picks up what is believed to be a wad of cash and holds it in his mouth as he replaces the items he has rummaged through. He then removes the cash from his mouth and appears to count it before placing it on the chair he is sitting on.
The man eventually gets up and walks away with the cash in one hand at about 6.35pm.
X also shared a second video of the incident captured from the man’s back view and a third clip of him leaving the shop.
Police report lodged, investigations ongoing
The Stomper, who has lodged a police report, said she found the incident particularly disappointing.
“We had just hired him, welcomed him after his journey from Malaysia, provided him a place to rest when he had nowhere to stay that night, and this happened only hours later,” she lamented.
“The funny part was he chose to jeopardise his career in Singapore for such a petty amount.”
In response to a Stomp query, the police confirmed that a report was lodged and investigations are ongoing.
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