A humble paper clip was the downfall of a domestic worker in Singapore who was jailed for four months after twice stealing money from her Korean employer to help support her struggling parents.
The 30-year-old Indonesian woman, identified only as Misnawati, told a court that she used the paper clip to pull banknotes out of a piggy bank she had spotted in a wardrobe in her employer’s bedroom. She pleaded guilty to stealing a total of S$5,500 (US$4,003).
Misnawati had worked for the victim and his family at an apartment on Jalan Sempadan for three years, Shin Min Daily News reported. In May she took notes worth S$1,980 and US$1,800 from the piggy bank, later sending the US dollar portion to her younger sister in Indonesia through a remittance shop in City Plaza on Geylang Road.
She admitted having taken the money when questioned the following day by the employer and also confessed that she had taken another S$1,000 (US$729) early in March using the same tactic. The woman said she was very remorseful over the thefts, but felt obliged to help support her poor parents as they had difficult lives as farmers.