Man steals $11,000 from charity donation boxes, uses most of it to repay drug debts
A 29-year-old Singaporean man was sentenced to prison for stealing S$11,000 from charity donation boxes at a coffeeshop. The man, who had prior theft and harassment charges, admitted to using the stolen funds to pay off drug debts.
Why it matters
The case highlights issues regarding public security and the vulnerability of unattended charity collection points in urban environments.
A 29-year-old Singaporean man was jailed after he was found to have stolen about S$11,000 from donation boxes at a coffeeshop in Geylang.
Manohar s/o Thirunavukkarasu pleaded guilty to two charges of theft, with another charge taken into consideration during sentencing.
He told investigators that he had already spent most of the money and only S$166 and some foreign currency were recovered when he was arrested.
On Tuesday (Oct 27), Manohar was sentenced to four months and four weeks in prison for his crimes.
On June 13, an employee of Kuan Tzi Zhai Vegetarian Cuisine had forgotten to place the cart containing 10 donation boxes back into the stall as she was closing up for the day.
A few hours later, at about 1.48am, Manohar happened to pass by the coffeeshop. Upon spotting the donation boxes, he was prompted to steal them.
Also covering this story
One other newsroom covered this event. We read that version too.
Get smarter about the news
Sign up free for a feed built around what you actually care about, Dive Deeper research on any story, and the full text of every article.
Create free accountAlready have an account? Sign in