M’sian restaurant assistant jailed for stealing over $30k despite being given a second chance
Despite being given a second chance and a $22,000 loan by his manager, a Malaysian restaurant assistant has been jailed for stealing from the company’s safe.
According to Shin Min Daily News, 32-year-old Xu Jia Jun (transliterated) faced four charges including criminal breach of trust and theft. The Malaysian pleaded guilty to three of the charges and was sentenced to eight months and three weeks in jail, along with a $1,400 fine.
Court documents stated that Xu joined “D’life” — a vegetarian restaurant located at Jurong West Avenue 1 — in early 2023 as an assistant manager. His responsibilities included collecting payments from customers, balancing accounts, and managing cash stored inside the restaurant’s safe and cash register.
However, Xu developed a gambling addiction and began embezzling money from the safe and cash register in September 2024. To cover up his crimes, he fabricated various excuses to delay handing over the business earnings to the manager.
Eventually, the truth came to light and he confessed his wrongdoings to his manager.
Following the confession, Xu wrote an apology letter to the manager, promising never to steal money again. Seeing his remorse, the manager gave him a second chance and allowed him to continue working.
Investigations later revealed that Xu had embezzled a total of $23,845 in company funds between September 1 and October 23, 2024.
On October 24 of the same year, the manager met Xu and his wife. Xu then signed an agreement promising that the embezzled amount would be repaid via monthly deductions from his salary.
He was subsequently demoted to a kitchen assistant and barred from handling the restaurant’s revenue.
However, because he knew where the keys to the safe and cash register were kept, he decided to steal again.
CCTV captures the crime
On the morning of January 30, 2025, a restaurant employee noticed a significant shortfall in the cash register and immediately alerted the manager.
Upon reviewing the CCTV footage, the manager saw Xu stealing the money and promptly instructed the staff to count the remaining cash in the register.
Realising his actions had been discovered, Xu texted the manager. He confessed to his crime and claimed he would surrender to the police himself.
However, he did not follow through. The manager lodged a police report the following day, which led to his arrest.
Further investigations revealed that Xu had used up all the stolen money, amounting to $7,686, on online gambling activities.
In a span of two days between January 30 and 31, 2025, he placed bets totaling $8,600.
Manager previously loaned over $20k
Out of sympathy, the manager had previously loaned Xu over $20,000, none of which was recovered. Despite this, the former employer wrote a letter of leniency on his behalf.
Investigations showed that Xu had claimed he needed money to clear debts, prompting the manager to loan him a total of $22,800 between early 2023 and August 2024.
Regarding the embezzled restaurant funds, Xu made restitution of $8,322 after the incident, and the restaurant deducted $1,900 from his salary.
Additionally, the police recovered $78 in cash during his arrest, and the remaining balance of $21,230 has since been fully repaid by his family.
In mitigation, the defense lawyer stated that Xu has an elderly mother and grandmother to care for and he hopes to return to Malaysia as soon as possible.
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