Temple employee in S’pore steals over S$38,000 for groceries & meals, gets 10.5 months’ jail

Temple employee faces 10.5 months’ jail after misappropriating charity funds

Tham Lai Ying was working as an administrative assistant at Seu Teck Sean Tong temple — located in Toa Payoh — when she stole over S$38,000 of its funds.

The court heard that 44-year-old Tham started working at the temple in Feb 2022 and earned about S$1,600 by helping to collect donations, reported The Strait Times (ST).

After giving out receipts for the money, Tham kept the sums in a locked drawer. Upon issuing all the receipts in a receipt book, Tham was supposed to hand over the book and cash to the temple’s finance executive.

However, about a month into the job, Tham began embezzling funds. The 44-year-old stole about S$38,799 in total, which included S$37,799 in donations and S$1,000 in membership fees.

She reportedly used the funds to buy groceries and dine in restaurants.

To cover up her crime, Tham kept some of the receipt books from the temple’s finance executive.

In May 2022, the finance executive noticed some books were missing and informed the temple’s secretary-general. This led to an internal audit the following month.

When the secretary-general questioned Tham, she confessed to stealing and was suspended from her job.

Sentenced to 10 months & two weeks in jail

In July, Tham pleaded guilty to one charge of criminal breach of trust as an employee.

Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Lim Li Ting said Tham’s offence undermined the public’s trust and confidence, noting that the money involved was intended for charity.

DPP Lim added that although Tham agreed to repay the stolen money in instalments, she hasn’t done so yet.

The prosecutor requested a jail term ranging from 11 to 12 months for Tham, while her lawyer asked for a nine-month sentence.

Mr Dhillon stated that Tham wanted to return all the stolen money but needed more time because she and her husband are unemployed.

He also mentioned that Tham was remorseful and would “sincerely like an opportunity to make amends.”

On Tuesday (13 Aug), Tham was sentenced to 10 months and two weeks’ jail.

She could’ve faced up to 15 years’ jail and a fine.

Also read: Man in China swaps QR code on temple’s merit box, steals over S$5,000 from donors

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Featured image adapted from Google Maps.