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SINGAPORE: A former employee of socialite Kim Lim was sentenced to jail on Monday (Nov 2) for crimes including stealing from her employer and drink driving while using the company car.<\/p>\n
Tey Jing Wen, a 33-year-old Singaporean, was sentenced to 22 months’ jail, fined S$3,500 (US$2,737) and banned from driving for two years.<\/p>\n
She pleaded guilty to five charges, including theft as a servant, criminal breach of trust as an employee, driving without a licence and drink driving.<\/p>\n
Another five charges were taken into consideration.<\/p>\n
Ms Lim is the daughter of billionaire Peter Lim. She spoke about the incident during a TikTok livestream with influencer Xiaxue last October, describing it as “drama” that left her deeply hurt.<\/p>\n
Tey was employed by Ms Lim’s beauty, wellness and healthcare group KL Health in June 2022 as a human resource (HR) assistant.<\/p>\n
Two years later, she became head of HR, and was further promoted on Dec 2024 to the role of regional coordinator and communicator. She monitored the company operators’ overseas activities.<\/p>\n
Tey worked closely with Ms Lim in the day-to-day administrative affairs of the office.<\/p>\n
When Ms Lim was not around, KL Health staff took instructions from Tey, who would first obtain Ms Lim’s approval.<\/p>\n
At about 4.40am on Jun 3, 2025, a police officer spotted Tey driving a car against traffic along Coleman Lane near City Hall.<\/p>\n
He stopped her and found that she reeked of alcohol. Tey failed a breathalyser test and was arrested.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It was later revealed that she did not have a valid driving licence or any insurance for the use of the carm which was rented by KL Health for designated drivers to use for daily errands.<\/p>\n
Tey had been tasked with safekeeping the key to the car. At the time, Ms Lim was not in Singapore, the court heard.<\/p>\n
Before being arrested, she had taken the car key without Ms Lim’s approval and driven the car from her office to Tanjong Pagar for dinner.<\/p>\n
She later went to a bar with a friend where she drank alcohol, before dropping her friend home.<\/p>\n
After Tey was arrested for the drink-driving offence, Ms Lim noticed a decline in her employee’s work performance and conducted an internal inquiry against Tey.<\/p>\n
Investigations revealed that Tey had used the company’s credit card, which had a credit limit of S$200,000 per month, to spend over S$19,000 on personal expenses at various clubs in May 2025.<\/p>\n
In August 2024, Tey also gained access to the company’s safe box, where Ms Lim kept a Patek Philippe watch worth S$73,000 and a stack of red packets containing about S$8,000.<\/p>\n
Ms Lim had forgotten the passcode to the safe, but Tey was able to access it after her predecessor resigned.<\/p>\n
After stealing the watch and the red packets, Tey sold the watch for only S$16,500 despite knowing it was worth more. She used the money on herself and to pay off her credit card bill.<\/p>\n
The prosecution sought a jail term of between 22 months and one day and 26 months and one-and-a-half weeks’ jail for Tey, with a fine of S$3,500 and 60 months’ disqualification from driving.<\/p>\n
For criminal breach of trust as an employee, she could have been jailed for up to 15 years and fined.<\/p>\n
For theft as a servant, she could have been jailed for up to seven years and fined.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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