'He knelt and cried': Toa Payoh chef allegedly stole repeatedly, owes boss over $70k

A chef allegedly fled after confessing to stealing stall takings from his employer. The employee, who had previously been forgiven for similar offences, is said to owe his boss more than $70,000.

The stall owner, who wanted to be known only as Tony, 65, told Shin Min Daily News that the chef, surnamed Chen, failed to report for work on Aug 27 and could not be reached thereafter.

Concerned, Tony went to Chen's home to look for him. When Chen opened the door, Tony noticed several bags normally used by the stall to store cash lying on the table.

"He knew that the truth would eventually come out, so he told me to wait outside. Soon after, he opened the door and confessed to stealing the money," said Tony.

According to Tony, Chen then knelt down and cried, while promising to write a letter of apology.

Chen, a Malaysian, had worked at one of Tony's three stalls at Kim Keat Avenue for about 10 years.

Despite Chen's confession, Tony said he later discovered that about $4,300 in earnings from the previous two to three days was missing.

When confronted, Chen allegedly admitted to taking a female worker's key, entering the stall and stealing the cash before deleting the CCTV footage, reported Shin Min Daily News.

"I have high blood pressure. I was very angry at the time and even wanted to hit him, but I held back," said Tony.

However, the matter did not end there, as one of the stall's female workers received a message from Chen the following day at noon saying he had left, prompting Tony to lodge a police report at about 4pm that day.

Responding to queries from AsiaOne, the police confirmed that a report had been lodged and said investigations are ongoing.

Tony said the incident left him with more than $70,000 in outstanding debts owed by Chen, after previously loaning him $40,000 to buy a house and helping him repay more than $10,000 in loan-shark debts.

Tony added that Chen had also received salary advances for September and October, as well as an advance payment of his December bonus.

According to Tony, this was not the first time he had caught Chen stealing money.

He claimed Chen had taken $260 in 2019 before allegedly stealing another $3,600 in June this year.

On both occasions, Chen reportedly wrote letters of repentance and was forgiven because of his good work attitude.

"In June, he knelt down and begged for forgiveness, saying he would pay me back $1,500 every month. He said he had no choice but to do so," said Tony.

Tony added that Chen had also borrowed money from several licensed moneylenders and provided them with his address and contact details.

Over $30,000 owed to colleagues

Although his current whereabouts are unknown, Tony said he believes Chen may have fled to Vietnam, where he allegedly has a girlfriend and a one-year-old child.

Tony also claimed that Chen had borrowed more than $30,000 from other employees, with individual amounts ranging from several hundred dollars to $16,000.

One of the employees, surnamed Ge, 24, told the Chinese Daily that Chen borrowed $2,500 from her on Aug 28, claiming he had an emergency and promising to repay her soon.

"He has disappeared since then. My salary is only $1,800, I hope he will be caught as soon as possible," she said.

Another chef, Ah Jian (transliteration), 30, said he had lent Chen $16,000 and was angry after learning that he had fled.

"A good brother should be willing to go through thick and thin for me, but he has stabbed me in the back," he said.

xingying.koh@asiaone.com

据称，一名厨师在承认偷窃雇主摊位收入后潜逃。这名员工此前曾因类似罪行被原谅，据说他欠老板超过7万美元。

摊主托尼（65岁）告诉《新明日报》，厨师陈某8月27日没有来上班，之后就联系不上了。

托尼很担心，便去了陈家找他。陈开门后，托尼看到桌子上放着几个摊位上用来装现金的袋子。

“他知道真相迟早会水落石出，所以让我等在外面。不久之后，他打开门，承认自己偷了钱，”托尼说道。

据托尼说，陈随后跪下哭泣，并承诺会写一封道歉信。

陈是马来西亚人，曾在金吉大道托尼的三个摊位之一工作了大约 10 年。

尽管陈承认了错误，但托尼表示，他后来发现前两三天的收入中约有 4300 美元不翼而飞。

据《新明日报》报道，陈某在被质问时承认，他拿走了女员工的钥匙，进入摊位偷走了现金，然后删除了监控录像。

“我有高血压。当时我非常生气，甚至想打他，但我忍住了，”托尼说。

然而，事情并没有就此结束，第二天中午，摊位的一名女员工收到陈某发来的信息，称他已经离开，这促使托尼在当天下午 4 点左右向警方报案。

警方在回应AsiaOne的询问时证实，已接到报案，并表示调查正在进行中。

Tony表示，陈欠他的债务超过7万美元，此前他曾借给陈4万美元买房，并帮助陈偿还了超过1万美元的高利贷债务。

Tony补充说，陈还收到了9月和10月的预支工资，以及12月奖金的预付款。

据托尼说，这并非他第一次抓到陈偷钱。

他声称陈某在 2019 年偷走了 260 美元，并于今年 6 月涉嫌再次盗窃 3600 美元。

据报道，陈某两次都写了忏悔信，并因其良好的工作态度而被原谅。

“六月份的时候，他跪下来求我原谅，说他会每个月还我1500美元。他说他别无选择，只能这么做，”托尼说。

托尼补充说，陈还曾向几家持牌放贷机构借钱，并向他们提供了自己的地址和联系方式。

拖欠同事超过3万美元

虽然陈目前下落不明，但托尼表示，他相信陈可能已经逃往越南，据说他在那里有一个女朋友和一个一岁的孩子。

Tony 还声称 Chen 向其他员工借款超过 3 万美元，单笔借款金额从几百美元到 1.6 万美元不等。

其中一名员工，姓葛，24岁，告诉《中国日报》，陈某于8月28日向她借了2500美元，声称自己遇到了紧急情况，并承诺很快会还钱。

“从那以后他就消失了。我的工资只有1800美元，我希望他能尽快被抓获，”她说。

另一位厨师阿建（音译），30岁，表示他曾借给陈16000美元，得知陈逃跑后非常生气。

“一个好哥哥应该愿意为我赴汤蹈火，但他却在背后捅了我一刀，”他说。

邢莹.koh@asiaone.com