A Taiwanese tourist has claimed that S$3,000 in cash that he left in his Sentosa hotel room was stolen by a housekeeper.
In a post on Threads on Friday (17 Oct), realtor Chang Shuoyang said that the woman has denied it despite evidence to the contrary.
Source: @yang.house.tw on Threads
Mr Chang said that he checked into Village Hotel Sentosa on Thursday (16 Oct).
Before going to Universal Studios Singapore, he left S$3,000 in a Marina Bay Sands (MBS) plastic bag on a white table in his room.
Source: @yang.house.tw on Threads
However, he found the money gone on Friday (17 Oct).
Initially, he felt “helpless” and called the police, Mr Chang said.
He approached the manager, who allegedly said he trusted his staff and there was no way such a thing would happen.
The tourist was allegedly advised to rummage through the hotel’s trash, which he was doing when the police arrived.
Source: @yang.house.tw on Threads
The police searched the housekeeper, a young Chinese woman, and her locker.
They found the MBS plastic bag that he had kept the money in, but it was empty, Mr Chang said.
The manager was purportedly shocked at this discovery, especially since Sentosa does not have such plastic bags.
Despite the evidence, the housekeeper denied taking the money and was taken in for questioning by the police.
The police are using “high-tech” methods in their investigation, including fingerprint analysis, and he hoped to get the results soon, he added.
Shaken by the incident, Mr Chang warned travellers to “be careful” when visiting Singapore as “hotel staff can steal money”, adding:
This totally changed my impression of Singapore as a safe city.
He also professed that this was the first time he had been robbed at a high-end hotel overseas.
He claimed that the hotel had not offered any compensation or response either.
In a subsequent post on Saturday (19 Oct), Mr Chang said that he had called the hotel several times and could not get through.
Peeved at the lack of apology or explanation from the hotel, he resolved to file a complaint with the Singapore Tourism Board on Monday.
In response to queries from MS News, the Singapore Police Force (SPF) said it received a call for assistance at 1.35pm on 17 Oct.
The location was 10 Artillery Avenue — the address of Village Hotel Sentosa.
A 34-year-old woman is currently assisting with investigations into the offence of theft in dwelling, SPF added.
Police investigations are ongoing.
A Far East Hospitality spokesperson told The Straits Times that the company is aware of the incident.
Far East, which operates Village Hotel Sentosa, said the hotel is fully cooperating with the authorities and “remains in contact” with the guest concerned.
However, it is unable to comment at this stage as investigations are still ongoing, the spokesperson added.
Also read: Man charged after allegedly breaking into hotel room in Orchard & stealing phone & wallet
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Featured image adapted from @yang.house.tw on Threads.