SINGAPORE – A man employed by a transport and logistics company stole more than $330,000 worth of antigen rapid test (ART) kits, selling them to fund his gambling habit.
On Tuesday, Lew Yun Poo, 33, was jailed for 12 months. He previously pleaded guilty to two counts of theft. Another three charges of theft were taken into consideration for sentencing.
The Malaysian was previously a supervisor employed by 138 Transport and Logistics, and hired part-time workers for one-off jobs.
He was also a driver for the company, and performed jobs that involved transporting goods from a supply chain company in Bulim Avenue in Jurong.
It was through these jobs that he noticed cartons of ART kits left unattended at the premises in Jurong.
Lew then came up with a plan to steal these kits and sell them to unsuspecting people.
He contacted one of the part-time drivers he had previously become acquainted with through the one-off jobs, telling him to use 138 Transport’s company vehicle to drive to the premises in Jurong and pick up unattended cartons of test kits.
The driver, who did not know that Lew did not have permission to take the kits, drove to the premises on Lew’s instructions on five occasions from May 28 to July 17, 2022. He delivered the cartons to Lew.
The transport company also did not know Lew was using its vehicle to steal the kits.
Lew stole more than 100 cartons of ART kits this way before the company in Jurong discovered the theft.
When Lew found out that the company was going to call the police, he contacted the driver and told him to delete all their messages, dispose of the phone and deny knowing him if anyone asked.
The court heard that the total value of kits that were stolen amounted to $336,960, and that Lew had sold them to two directors of other companies and spent the money on gambling.
The police were able to recover only six cartons of the kits, valued at $20,200. Lew has not made restitution for the other kits.
For each count of theft, he could have been jailed for up to three years and fined.
