Valet jailed for CashCard thefts

A valet who stole CashCards from vehicles he helped to park at the Paragon shopping centre was jailed for five weeks yesterday.

Adam Malik Abdul Karem, 45, was working at the Orchard Road mall when he committed theft and dishonest misappropriation of CashCards with values totalling $2,821. He pleaded guilty to two charges of theft and one of misappropriating 60 CashCards.

A magistrate's court heard that between March 11 and 13 this year, Mr Brad Colin Paterson drove his vehicle to Paragon and used the valet services.

After Malik parked the victim's BMW car, he stole the 39-year-old's CashCard with a stored value of $122 from the in-vehicle unit.

The same month, he stole a CashCard from housewife Pauline Chong, 44, whose car he helped to park. The card had a stored value of $164.

He refunded the CashCard amounts into his bank account and spent all the money.

Further investigation showed that from January to April, he misappropriated 60 CashCards with a total value of $2,309 from unknown vehicle owners after parking their vehicles.

Malik, who had a theft conviction 10 years ago, pleaded for leniency, saying that he regretted his actions.

Three other theft charges were taken into consideration.

He could have been jailed for up to three years and/or fined for each charge of theft.

The maximum penalty for dishonest misappropriation is two years' jail and a fine.

This article was first published on August 21, 2014.
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