Salesman jailed for watch thefts, cheating clients

A 26-YEAR-OLD salesman who stole luxury watches worth almost half a million dollars and also cheated two clients of their money was sentenced to 26 months' jail yesterday.

Ronald Foo Ce Shan had made use of his position as a sales representative at Richemont Luxury, a high-end boutique at Marina Bay Sands, to steal four Jaeger-LeCoultre watches from the store.

The watches, which he took in January, were worth $489,000 in total, with one watch belonging to a customer valued at $332,000.

The court heard that Foo took this last watch from a safe in the boutique's back office. He pawned it for $30,000, part of which he used to pay off debts. He gambled the rest away, hoping to win enough to redeem the watch, but did not succeed.

Foo was also accused of cheating two customers in October and December last year of $20,600 and $15,000, respectively. In both cases, he told the victims that he could purchase branded watches for them at a discounted price.

After the victims handed over the money, Foo placed orders for the watches at the boutique but never made payment. He claimed that he used the money to clear his loan-shark debts instead.

His lawyer Chang Chih Chao said in mitigation that his client was young and "extremely remorseful". Foo could have been jailed for up to seven years and fined for each charge of theft as a servant or criminal breach of trust.

oliviaho@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on May 9, 2015.
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