Yishun jewellery store employee swopped gold pieces with copies from Taobao, gets over 2 years’ jail
He had stolen 24 pieces of gold jewellery worth over $216k, pawning them to gamble and settle debts.
In August 2025, a 31-year-old assistant store manager named Darren Wai Mun Jun was sentenced to two years, four months, and two weeks of imprisonment for stealing 24 pieces of gold jewellery worth over $216,000 from his workplace in Yishun. Wai, who worked as an assistant manager at CHJ Singapore Jewel in Northpoint Drive, replaced six of the stolen pieces with gold jewellery replicas he purchased from the online platform Taobao.
The remaining 18 pieces were replaced with items from the store's inventory, as the shop lacked a proper stock-taking system. After stealing the jewellery, Wai pawned all 24 pieces but received only $131,000 in cash due to the replicas' lower value. He subsequently gambled and used the money to settle debts. Authorities seized 18 of the stolen pieces from pawnshops, and Wai showed no intention of returning any of the items.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Teng Yin Hang revealed that Wai began working at CHJ in September 2025, two months before planning the theft. To evade detection, Wai would switch off the shop's Wi-Fi to disable the CCTV cameras before executing his plan, then switch it back on afterward.
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