Missing items packed in maid's boxes, court told

Parti Liyani 44, faces four charges of theft involving over $50,000 worth of valuables. She allegedly packed the items into three boxes.
Parti Liyani 44, faces four charges of theft involving over $50,000 worth of valuables. She allegedly packed the items into three boxes. ST PHOTO: WONG KWAI CHOW

An Indonesian maid, who used to work for Changi Airport Group chairman Liew Mun Leong, 71, left behind three sealed boxes of items in his home after she was told to leave on Oct 28, 2016, a district court heard yesterday.

Mr Liew's son, former private banker Karl Liew Kai Lung, had earlier told Parti Liyani that he would pay for the boxes to be shipped back to her country.

The boxes were opened the day after Parti was told to leave as the family wanted to check their contents. That was when, Mr Karl Liew said, he, his mother and his wife found several of their valuables packed inside. The older Mr Liew then alerted the police on Oct 30, 2016.

On the second day of Parti's trial, Mr Karl Liew told District Judge Olivia Low: "We discovered there were items we had not seen for many years... I got a bit emotional as some of the items have sentimental value."

Parti, 44, faces four charges of theft involving more than $50,000 worth of valuables. She allegedly packed the stolen items into three boxes which she sealed at the house in Chancery Lane off Dunearn Road, at around 1pm on Oct 28, 2016.

Parti is said to have stolen items including a Gerald Genta watch, a Prada bag, jewellery and a DVD player from Mr LiewMun Leong, his son, his daughter Liew Cheng May and his daughter-in-law Heather Lim Mei Ern.

Responding to queries from Deputy Public Prosecutor Tan Yanying, the younger Mr Liew testified that his own relationship with Parti was "not pleasant" as she had "very bad mood swings".

She had worked at his father's house for about eight to 10 years. The court heard that over this period, Mr Karl Liew, his wife and his father discovered that some of their belongings had gone missing.

Although they suspected that Parti could be responsible for the missing items, her employers had no concrete evidence to show that she had stolen them.

Mr Karl Liew told the court that his father had asked him to go to the Chancery Lane house on Oct 28, 2016 to tell Parti to leave. The reason behind this was not mentioned in court.

He testified that he reached there at around 11am with an employment agent and gave her about three hours to pack up.

He then left the house and when he came back later, he found that she had three sealed jumbo boxes. He told the court that she "demanded" that he pay for them to be transported to Indonesia and he agreed. Parti then left and returned to Indonesia.

He testified that the next day, his wife told him that he could not send the boxes without checking what was inside them. The family opened the boxes and found some of their missing items packed inside, the court heard. The trial resumes today.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on April 25, 2018, with the headline Missing items packed in maid's boxes, court told. Subscribe