A severe gambling habit proved to be the undoing of a Filipino domestic worker here, who stole massive amounts of cash and jewellery from her employer only to waste it all away at casinos.
48-year-old Mary Jane Importante Escalona pleaded guilty to 12 counts of theft as a servant, The Straits Times reports. Items she stole included diamond rings, gold stone rings and earrings, with values ranging from US$3,000 to US$100,000.
The stolen items would then be pawned on the same day before she gambled the money away in casinos at Resorts World Sentosa and Marina Bay Sands.
Her employer — 60-year-old fellow Philippine national Jose Isidro Navato Camacho — reported the theft to the police in October last year, suspecting his maid to be the culprit.
She has since been sentenced to two and half years in jail, backdated to Oct 20 last year when she was first remanded.
