Man steals $11,000 from charity donation boxes, uses most of it to repay drug debts
A 29-year-old Singaporean man was jailed after he was found to have stolen about S$11,000 from donation boxes at a coffeeshop in Geylang. Manohar s/o Thirunavukkarasu pleaded guilty to two charges of theft, with another charge taken into consideration during sentencing.He told investigators that he had already spent most of the money and only S$166 and some foreign currency were recovered when he was arrested.On Tuesday (Oct 27), Manohar was sentenced to four months and four weeks in prison for his crimes.How the theft occurredOn June 13, an employee of Kuan Tzi Zhai Vegetarian Cuisine had forgotten to place the cart containing 10 donation boxes back into the stall as she was closing up for the day. A few hours later, at about 1.48am, Manohar happened to pass by the coffeeshop. Upon spotting the donation boxes, he was prompted to steal them.According to Lianhe Zaobao, Manohar took a large pail used for dirty dishes from nearby, placed the donation boxes into it and pushed it away on the trolley.He then wheeled the trolley along Sims Avenue, towards Aljunied MRT station.