Maid stole 5 Chanel bags worth $24,800 from employer, sold for less than $10,000
Wan Ting Koh
·Senior Reporter
Mon, 14 February 2022, 6:54 pm
A Chanel handbag. (PHOTO: Getty Images)
SINGAPORE — A maid who wanted to repay her debts to friends in Singapore stole her employer’s Chanel handbags and jewellery and sold them.
Meneses Princess Joy Domingo, 28, lied that her boyfriend worked in the IT department in Chanel and was able to buy Chanel handbags at a discounted rate.
After the Filipina was charged and released on bail, she resided in a hostel where she stole money from her roommate twice.
Meneses stole $30,705 worth of items from her employer, a South Korean woman. The items include five black Chanel handbags, two Tiffany and Co rings, and an Hermes bracelet.
She was sentenced to a year and two weeks’ jail after she pleaded guilty to one count of theft in dwelling and an amalgamated charge of theft by a servant. Another similar charge was considered for her sentencing.
Meneses began working for her employer on 8 May last year and resided with the employer and her daughter. She was tasked to care for the daughter and was paid $750 a month. According to her, she had no complaints with her employer and had enough sleep, rest and food.
She had access to all the rooms in the unit, including the bedroom with the wardrobe containing the jewellery and handbags.
During her first month of employment, Meneses asked her employer for more money and her employer paid her $100 on top of her salary. She also received $200 and $300 in July and August 2021, at her request.
In June 2021, however, the employer noticed that her rings were missing from her bedroom but assumed that she had misplaced them.
On 19 August last year, she then found several of her Chanel handbags missing. She suspected the maid and lodged a police report on 23 August 2021.
Meneses had stolen the items over at leat three occasions between May and August 2021, taking them when her employer was out and the daughter at school. She would then immediately leave the unit to sell the items.
The missing Chanel handbags were a Medium Boy worth $8,500, a Gabriel Clutch bag worth $1,937.50, a Gabriel bag pack worth $8,000, a Classic Cavier Clutch B worth $1,875, and a bag worth $4,500. These were worth a total of $24,812.50. Meneses sold them for only $9,760.
She sold three of the stolen Chanel handbags to a friend who believed that Meneses’ boyfriend was working in Chanel's IT department and hence could buy them at a discounted rate. Two of the handbags were recovered while one, later sold to an unidentified person, was not recovered.
Meneses also gave a stolen Hermes bracelet to the friend for free due to the purchases. The bracelet was eventually recovered.
Using the same lie about her purported boyfriend, Meneses sold one more bag with the help of an acquaintance. She sold another bag to another acquaintance. Both bags were recovered.
Meneses sold the two Tiffany rings to a Value Max shop at Lucky Plaza, which were also recovered. She obtained $10,280 through her illicit sale of the stolen loot and remitted some money to her home country. She also repaid loans she owed friends.
After Meneses was charged and awaiting her court case, she resided at Heritage Hostel and shared a room with a female Chinese national.
On 14 October 2021, the roommate left her hostel room for breakfast and left her wallet unattended in the hostel room. Seeing this, Meneses decided to steal money to send home. She took $400 from the wallet. The roommate found the cash missing the next day.
As she did not want to escalate the matter, she did not report the theft.
However, Meneses returned to her old ways the next day. On 16 October, Meneses again stole $50 cash from the roommate. The roommate discovered the cash missing and lodged a police report.
When the police arrived at the hostel later, Meneses claimed she did not steal the money and denied knowing where the roommate even kept her money. Further investigations were conducted on 19 October 2021, and Meneses still denied the offences. She only came clean on 20 October 2021.
Meneses spent the money on personal expenses and remitted about $100 to the Philippines. She did not make any restitution.
The prosecution noted that the total amount stolen was significant, and that no restitution was made by Meneses. It was also aggravating that Meneses had reoffended while on court bail.
The prosecution sought 15 to 18 months’ jail for the charge of theft by a servant, and two to four weeks’ jail for the charge of theft in dwelling.
Mitigating in person, Meneses said tearfully that she was remorseful for her actions. She said she wished to return home as soon as possible to support her mother and child. She also promised to “turn over a new leaf” and find another job.
