Man jailed 2½ years for theft, assault and charging over $3k on stolen credit cards

Sunda Singh Sirajanam, 46, pleaded guilty to six counts of cheating by personation and one count each of theft, cheating, and causing hurt. PHOTO: ST GRAPHICS

SINGAPORE - A former cleaning supervisor was sentenced to 2½ years' jail on Thursday (Aug 10) for stealing from his victims, incurring charges totalling $3,215.71 on their debit and credit cards, and assault.

Sunda Singh Sirajanam, 46, pleaded guilty to six counts of cheating by personation and one count each of theft, cheating and causing hurt. Eleven other charges, including four counts of cheating by personation and one count of dishonest misappropriation of property, were taken into consideration during sentencing.

The offences were committed between October 2016 and June 2017.

The court heard that Singh was a cleaning supervisor at 313@Somerset shopping mall, but was fired some time ago when his co-worker, Ms Noorliza Jaffar, who was also his girlfriend at the time, reported him for consuming alcohol on the job.

At about 7.30pm on Oct 27, 2016, Singh went to a cleaner's room on the third floor of Orchard Central shopping mall and stole a black wallet belonging to Ms Jeevitha Gunasaragan. The wallet contained $30 in cash, and an ez-link card with a stored value of $40, among other things.

About four hours later, he went to see Ms Noorliza at 313@Somerset shopping mall and they had a heated argument.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Nicholas Lim said one of her colleagues, Mr Ong Siang Long, stepped in and accompanied her to a taxi stand when the argument died down.

After she left, Singh approached Mr Ong and punched him on the neck.

On Feb 24, 2017, Singh went to Lucky Plaza and spotted Ms Jain Reshu's black bag, which she had left unattended inside a stroller outside a shop on the first floor.

Singh stole the bag, which contained a credit card and an iPhone 5, among other things.

Later that day, he used the card to buy things like alcoholic drinks worth $687.50 at Michikusa Lounge in Orchard Plaza, and a $238.50 watch.

On May 23, he dishonestly misappropriated a wallet belonging to Malaysian Ng Sin Yee, which contained two debit cards and a credit card. After that, he went to the Coyote Ugly bar in Lucky Plaza and used Ms Ng's credit card to buy drinks, which cost $679.80 in all.

Four days later, Singh went to the Cuba Libre bar in Clarke Quay and stole Ms Shanine Van Zwienen's grey sling bag containing valuables as well as a debit card. He then went to the nearby Highlander bar and used the card to pay for $1,478.31 worth of beverages.

For each count of cheating by personation, he could have been jailed for up to five years and fined.

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