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A chef allegedly fled after confessing to stealing stall takings from his employer. The employee, who had previously been forgiven for similar offences, is said to owe his boss more than $70,000.<\/p>\n
The stall owner, who wanted to be known only as Tony, 65, told Shin Min Daily News that the chef, surnamed Chen, failed to report for work on Aug 27 and could not be reached thereafter.<\/p>\n
Concerned, Tony went to Chen’s home to look for him. When Chen opened the door, Tony noticed several bags normally used by the stall to store cash lying on the table.<\/p>\n
“He knew that the truth would eventually come out, so he told me to wait outside. Soon after, he opened the door and confessed to stealing the money,” said Tony.<\/p>\n
According to Tony, Chen then knelt down and cried, while promising to write a letter of apology.<\/p>\n
Chen, a Malaysian, had worked at one of Tony’s three stalls at Kim Keat Avenue for about 10 years.<\/p>\n
Despite Chen’s confession, Tony said he later discovered that about $4,300 in earnings from the previous two to three days was missing.<\/p>\n
When confronted, Chen allegedly admitted to taking a female worker’s key, entering the stall and stealing the cash before deleting the CCTV footage, reported Shin Min Daily News.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“I have high blood pressure. I was very angry at the time and even wanted to hit him, but I held back,” said Tony.<\/p>\n
However, the matter did not end there, as one of the stall’s female workers received a message from Chen the following day at noon saying he had left, prompting Tony to lodge a police report at about 4pm that day.<\/p>\n
Responding to queries from AsiaOne, the police confirmed that a report had been lodged and said investigations are ongoing.<\/p>\n
Tony said the incident left him with more than $70,000 in outstanding debts owed by Chen, after previously loaning him $40,000 to buy a house and helping him repay more than $10,000 in loan-shark debts.<\/p>\n
Tony added that Chen had also received salary advances for September and October, as well as an advance payment of his December bonus.\u00a0<\/p>\n
According to Tony, this was not the first time he had caught Chen stealing money.<\/p>\n
He claimed Chen had taken $260 in 2019 before allegedly stealing another $3,600 in June this year.\u00a0<\/p>\n
On both occasions, Chen reportedly wrote letters of repentance and was forgiven because of his good work attitude.<\/p>\n
“In June, he knelt down and begged for forgiveness, saying he would pay me back $1,500 every month. He said he had no choice but to do so,” said Tony.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Tony added that Chen had also borrowed money from several licensed moneylenders and provided them with his address and contact details.<\/p>\n
Although his current whereabouts are unknown, Tony said he believes Chen may have fled to Vietnam, where he allegedly has a girlfriend and a one-year-old child.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Tony also claimed that Chen had borrowed more than $30,000 from other employees, with individual amounts ranging from several hundred dollars to $16,000.\u00a0<\/p>\n
One of the employees, surnamed Ge, 24, told the Chinese Daily that Chen borrowed $2,500 from her on Aug 28, claiming he had an emergency and promising to repay her soon.<\/p>\n
“He has disappeared since then. My salary is only $1,800, I hope he will be caught as soon as possible,” she said.<\/p>\n
Another chef, Ah Jian (transliteration), 30, said he had lent Chen $16,000 and was angry after learning that he had fled.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“A good brother should be willing to go through thick and thin for me, but he has stabbed me in the back,” he said.<\/p>\n
[[nid:742480]]<\/p>\n
xingying.koh@asiaone.com<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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