Durian stall assistant swipes $17k from outlet’s safe and borrows money from customers, gambles it away at MBS casino
A durian stall assistant who was entrusted with the stall’s safe password while covering for his supervisor during the Chinese New Year (CNY) period stole $17,300 from the safe, only to lose the entire sum while gambling at a casino.
Malaysian national Tan An Sheng, 26, pleaded guilty to one count of criminal breach of trust by an employee and was sentenced to five months’ jail.
Court documents stated that Tan worked as an assistant at the Top Durian Station outlet at Block 154 Bukit Batok Street 11, and was tasked with promoting and selling durians, as well as manning the cash counter.
From Feb 18 to 22, during the CNY period, the outlet’s supervisor went on leave and Tan was assigned to take over the role temporarily.
During this period, Tan’s job scope included calculating and reporting the profit or loss for each day to his store supervisor and depositing the cash sales proceeds into the safe. He was also the only employee with access to the safe’s password.
However, on Feb 20 and 22, Tan stole a total of $17,300 from the safe on two separate occasions — swiping $1,000 on the first incident and emptying the remaining $16,300 on the second.
Tan then brought the stolen money to the casino at Marina Bay Sands, hoping to win enough to repay his debts to moneylenders. Instead, he lost the entire amount.
Still borrowed money to gamble after repayment arrangement
He came clean about the incident to his supervisor on Feb 23, realising he could no longer account for the missing cash. He also asked his supervisor to inform the company director.
The company’s director initially decided to give Tan a second chance by allowing him to repay $20,000 in instalments to compensate the company.
However, after repaying just $2,204, Tan resumed gambling and even borrowed money from customers and colleagues to do so.
Prosecution: A deliberate and escalating offence
The director eventually lodged a police report, and Tan was arrested on June 1.
The prosecution argued that Tan’s actions were not the result of a momentary lapse in judgment, but rather a deliberate act which escalated into criminal conduct.
According to Shin Min Daily News, Tan said he had realised the seriousness of his actions during mitigation and apologised for damaging the company’s business and reputation. He also expressed remorse to his supervisors and colleagues, appealing for leniency.
Taking into account that Tan had voluntarily confessed to the company and made partial restitution, the prosecution sought a sentence of five months’ imprisonment.
Around 50 customers turned up demanding repayment
Speaking to reporters on June 26, Top Durian Station’s operator, Cai Ming You (transliterated), said Tan had worked for the company for about eight or nine months before the offence.
“When I visited the outlet, I realised the money wasn’t there. After questioning him, he admitted what he had done,” Cai said.
Cai added that he had been unaware of Tan’s gambling tendencies and had initially intended to give him another chance by deducting repayments from his salary.
However, Cai said that even after Tan’s arrest, customers continued visiting the stall, claiming they had lent him money. He estimated there were about 50 such customers.
To prevent similar incidents, Cai said only outlet supervisors are allowed access to the safe. If a supervisor is on leave, Cai would personally take over the responsibility of the safe.
Borrowed money from stall owners
When Shin Min reporters visited a coffee shop near the durian stall on June 27, several stall owners and assistants said they had lent cash to Tan.
Jenny (transliterated), 37, who runs a fish soup stall, said Tan told her he had received a traffic summons and urgently needed money. She said he looked like an honest person, and didn’t ask for his contact details before lending him the money.
“When I didn’t see him for the next few days, I went to the durian stall to ask for my money back. That’s when I found out he had been borrowing from people, with one person even lending him $1,000. I don’t think I’ll ever get my money back. I won’t be so quick to lend money to others again.”
Fong (transliterated), 43, who owns a nearby Vietnamese grocery shop, said Tan had made similar claims and asked to borrow $700.
The shop owner said he felt it was only right to lend a helping hand to a “neighbour”, but only realised Tan was into gambling after he handed over the money.
“He repaid $400 and said he would pay the rest when he received his salary, but he was arrested. I didn’t make a police report, but I hope he reflects on what he has done.”
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