SINGAPORE - The owner of two minimarts, who had installed CCTV security cameras to deter and catch shoplifters, has instead caught two employees allegedly pocketing money from customers.

One of them had even taught him how to use the CCTV cameras to detect shoplifting cases, said Mr Daniel Tan, the owner of the minimarts.

Police confirmed that reports were lodged.

A 52-year-old woman has been arrested for suspected theft as a servant, while a 46-year-old woman is assisting with investigations into a case of criminal breach of trust.

Mr Tan, 43, said he was conducting a routine check when he saw in a CCTV recording his worker at Angel Supermart at Block 631, Ang Mo Kio Avenue 4, allegedly collecting money from customers and not putting it into the cash register.

The 52-year-old employee, who had been working at the store for a month, was arrested by the police on May 25.

While going through CCTV footage for evidence, Mr Tan said he discovered that another staff member, who had been working at the same store since 2017, had also been allegedly stealing from the store.

According to him, the 46-year-old employee did not record some transactions in the store’s payment system, despite collecting money from customers.

As she was aware of the CCTV cameras in the store, she purportedly reprinted receipts from other transactions and handed them over to customers, he added.

She was detained by the police on May 28.

“It was such good sleight of hand,” said Mr Tan, who explained that he had installed the CCTV cameras to also protect his workers from customers who might try to bully them, in addition to using them for training purposes.

“I’m still reeling from the shock, the betrayal by someone I trusted for six years,” he added.

Mr Tan said that the younger woman had been close to him and other employees at the store, including the store manager.

“We celebrated birthdays, weddings together. She was one of the three or four people we felt were the pillars of the shop, who will help maintain things.

“That’s why we never checked her, because as far as we were concerned, she was trustworthy,” he said.

The incidents, he said, had upset his investors, and sparked arguments between him and his wife.

“She told me I’m always too lenient with the staff. Every now and then, she still snaps at me, and I’m like, ‘Hey I know you’re angry, but I’m the victim here’,” he added.