Salesman jailed 16 months for taking $23,000 from F&B company

[XingCai]

Salesman jailed 16 months for taking $23,000 from F&B company

[video=youtube;UwInFiAtfl0]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UwInFiAtfl0 [/video]

Published Jul 30, 2015, 11:58 am SGT
Olivia Ho

SINGAPORE - A salesman was jailed for 16 months on Thursday for taking nearly $23,000 from the F&B company where he worked.

Lin Jun Tian, 44, had pocketed the cash given to him by customers, instead of handing it over to his bosses at Sheng Sheng F&B Industries, which distributes canned and bottled drinks.

He took the payments for the goods on more than 60 different occasions between July and August last year.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Suhas Malhotra told the court that this was not the first time Lin had been convicted of criminal breach of trust.

In 2013, Lin had misappropriated $50,800 from a previous employer, without making any restitution. Released from jail in December that year, he returned to his old ways at Sheng Sheng just slightly over six months later.

Said DPP Suhas: "This was not a situation where the accused submitted to temptation on one or two occasions, but a concerted campaign by him to pocket money from his employer."

In mitigation, Lin's lawyer K Jayakumar Naidu said that his client had committed the offence because of a "snowball effect" from being constantly harassed by various unlicensed moneylenders.

Mr Jayakumar added that Lin had been made a bankrupt by his employers, after he could not pay back what he took.

Lin has made restitution of about $850 to Sheng Sheng so far, comprising some cash and his withheld salary.

For committing criminal breach of trust while employed as a servant, Lin could have been jailed up to 15 years and also fined.