Freelance cleaner jailed for stealing after employer plants marked cash

A freelance cleaner has been sentenced to two weeks in jail in Singapore after being caught stealing from her employer. Nant Aye Thandar Soe, a 30-year-old woman from Myanmar, was convicted of theft on Monday.

The victim, a 35-year-old Singaporean woman, hired the cleaner through the service Helpling to tidy her apartment weekly. After suspecting the cleaner of theft, the employer devised a plan to catch her in the act. On May 27, she noticed money missing from her bag and decided to set a trap.

The following day, the victim installed a closed-circuit television camera in her flat. She then placed 20 S$50 notes in her bag, meticulously recording their serial numbers before leaving the bag in a corner of her room. When Nant Aye Thandar Soe arrived for her cleaning duties, she was observed on camera opening the victim's wallet, taking three S$50 notes, and placing them in her pocket.

Later that evening, the employer confronted the cleaner after discovering the three notes were missing. The cleaner produced four S$50 notes from her pocket, and the employer was able to match the serial numbers of three of them to those she had recorded. The fourth note belonged to the cleaner. The employer then contacted the police, leading to the cleaner's arrest and subsequent jail sentence. The cleaner could have faced up to seven years in jail and a fine for the offense.