Indian-origin nursing residence worker in Singapore fined for theft, dishonest

An Indian-origin nursing residence worker was fined SGD 4,000 on Monday after she pleaded responsible earlier to theft and dishonest an aged resident in Singapore.

Latha Narayanan, 59, stole an ATM card belonging to an aged resident she was assigned to take care of and withdrew SGD1,000 in money. She additionally used the cardboard to purchase meals and toiletries at a grocery store.

Two different comparable fees towards Latha have been considered throughout sentencing, in response to a report by The Straits Times.

The courtroom heard that in 2019, Latha, who was a well being assistant at Woodlands Care Home, was assigned to look after the sufferer, a 65-year-old man.

He died in January 2021, in response to courtroom paperwork.

The courtroom heard that someday in 2019, the person forgot the PIN quantity for his ATM card and Latha accompanied him to the financial institution to acquire a brand new code after a daily hospital go to.

The man acquired his new PIN quantity within the presence of Latha and positioned his ATM card within the pocket of his telephone cowl. He then handed the machine to her for safekeeping.

On November 21, 2019, Latha used the cardboard entrusted to her to withdraw SGD1,000 in money, committing theft, stated the prosecution.

She then used the cardboard on Nov 25 to pay for SGD73 price of meals and toiletries at a grocery store in Woodlands, dishonestly inducing workers on the retailer to make the transaction.

The offences got here to mild when the aged man reported to the police on November 27 that he misplaced his ATM card and that unauthorised withdrawals had been created from his checking account.

This was not Latha’s first brush with the regulation. In 2017, she was fined SGD600 for property-related thefts, in response to courtroom paperwork.

Seeking a tremendous of SGD4,000, the prosecution stated that the entire quantity concerned in Latha’s case was SGD1,870, noting that restitution was made within the type of a donation to the Singapore Cancer Society on Feb 9 this yr.

In mitigation, defence lawyer Ashwin Ganapathy, who additionally sought a tremendous of SGD4,000, stated Latha was dedicated to creating restitution regardless of needing months to collect the funds.

He advised the courtroom in an earlier session that Latha had been a sufferer of bullying in her youth and endured abuse in her marriage.

She was additionally abused by the sufferer whom she cared for on the nursing residence, Ashwin added.

The penalty for theft and dishonest is a jail time period of as much as three years and a tremendous.