The Judiciary Police (PJ) arrested a domestic helper from the Philippines on Tuesday for stealing four gold bars, gold jewellery, and cash totalling 75,000 patacas from her elderly employer’s flat, PJ spokesman Cheong Siu Keong said during a regular press conference yesterday.
Cheong identified the suspect as a 34-year-old female surnamed Domingo, who had worked as a live-in domestic helper at the victim’s flat since mid-2023. The victim is a local elderly woman.
According to Cheong, the victim discovered on Monday that four gold bars and 10,000 patacas in cash kept in a wooden box in her storeroom, along with gold jewellery kept in a wardrobe, had gone missing. Suspecting her domestic helper, she reported the case to the police, estimating her total loss at 75,000 patacas.
PJ officers conducted a crime scene investigation at the flat and found no signs of forced entry. Officers proceeded to the flat at noon on Tuesday and arrested Domingo while she was working, Cheong said.
The investigation revealed that on October 10, the suspect took advantage of a moment when her employer was not paying attention to steal the key to the wooden box. She then stole the gold bars, cash, and wardrobe jewellery, subsequently pawning a portion of the stolen items.
Cheong added that Domingo remitted 4,000 patacas of the pawn proceeds to the Philippines. Officers seized 2,500 patacas in suspected crime proceeds from Domingo and successfully recovered a five-gram gold bar valued at 5,350 patacas from a local pawnshop.
The Judiciary Police are continuing their investigation to trace the remaining missing gold bars and jewellery, Cheong noted.
Domingo has been transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) for follow-up prosecution, facing an aggravated theft charge.
Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Cheong Siu Keong looks on during yesterday’s regular press conference. – Photo: Sherwin Hng
