Maid jailed for stealing over $34k from elderly man with dementia
Shaffiq Alkhatib for The Straits Times
A domestic helper tasked to care for a 95-year-old man with mild dementia, and his wife, 93, stole more than $34,000 from him after she took his mobile phone multiple times and accessed his online bank account.
Sumiati, who knew that the victim had penned down the personal identification number (PIN) and user ID linked to the account in a notebook left on a table, committed the offence after memorising them.
Over 10 occasions between February and October 2023, the Indonesian woman transferred the money from his account to two others belonging to her.
On May 14, Sumiati, 40, who goes by only one name, was sentenced to a year in jail after she pleaded guilty to a theft charge.
State Prosecuting Officer (SPO) Ting Nge Kong told the court that the victim had hired the maid in December 2022 and she received a monthly salary of $750.
Her tasks included changing the man's adult diapers and bathing his wife daily.
The couple have a 67-year-old daughter who did not live with them, the court heard.
SPO Ting said that according to the maid, the victim and his daughter had treated her well, and they also paid her in advance whenever she told them about her financial woes.
The victim also trusted Sumiati sufficiently to allow her to help him with online shopping by using his mobile phone.
On Feb 23, 2023, the maid took the man's phone while he was not looking and went to a corner where she accessed his bank account after keying in the user ID and PIN.
She then transferred $750 of the man's money to one of her own accounts before placing the phone back at its original spot.
When the theft went unnoticed, an emboldened Sumiati made nine more similar transfers to her bank accounts, each involving amounts between $220 and $9,450.
She would then remit her ill-gotten gains to her siblings in Indonesia.
Her offence came to light on Oct 16, 2023 when the victim checked the balance of his bank account and found multiple unauthorised fund transfers from it.
Sumiati accompanied him to a branch of the bank where he found out that more than $34,000 had been transferred to the maid's bank accounts. He was also advised to lodge a police report.
The maid then admitted that she had stolen his money and asked to be given a chance. She also promised to repay him via monthly instalments of $500.
The victim, who did not alert the police, agreed and allowed her to continue working for him.
But 13 days later, he found Sumiati missing from his home. He alerted his daughter and told her that the maid had stolen from him.
The daughter alerted the police and Sumiati was detained for an investigation after she returned to the man's home at 9pm that day.
Shortly after recording his statement, the maid fled to the Indonesian Embassy.
Court documents do not disclose what happened next but police finally arrested her on April 15, 2025.
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