She just wants to remember! Woman wrote her card PIN on a piece of paper, maid stole the card and withdrew $25,000

SINGAPORE: A maid took advantage of the forgetfulness of her elderly employer when she stole a bank card and made 25 unauthorised withdrawals amounting to more than $25,000 in a span of 8 months. With this, the 43-year-old Indonesian maid now faces three charges of theft—the prosecution proceeded with one charge, while the remaining charges will be considered by the judge during sentencing.

As reported by Shin Min Daily News, the 83-year-old woman who lived in Woodlands Street asked her maid to write down his bank card PIN on a piece of paper. This gave the maid the opportunity to have access to the card and commit the crime.

Further investigations revealed that the maid was hired in 2020 and has been responsible for caring for the elderly since then. The victim and the suspect shared the same bedroom, and the suspect learned that the elderly woman kept her bank card in her handbag in April 2024. After knowing this, the suspect succumbed to greed and stole the bank card, and stole $1,000 from a nearby ATM before returning it.

Since she was not caught the first time, the suspect continued with her illegal acts. Court documents show that between April and December of the same year, the suspect was able to withdraw a total of $24,500 on 25 separate occasions.

In December, the victim dismissed the maid due to her unsatisfactory performance and moved in with her daughter. In February 2025, the victim's daughter was helping her mother withdraw money and she discovered multiple unauthorised withdrawal records in the account. They immediately reported the case to the police.

The court revealed that the suspect was arrested at Changi Airport in February this year upon returning to Singapore. Investigations showed that she wired some of the stolen money to her family in Indonesia and used the remaining for personal expenses.

The judge ultimately sentenced the suspect to five months in prison.

Other related news

In similar news related to stealing, there was a report where a young man risked his own life by breaking into his neighbour’s 13th-floor apartment through the kitchen window located on the floor below.

The 18-year-old man did this at least five times in a span of six months, stealing an accumulated amount totalling to $900.

Read more about the story here.