She went to “fix her handphone”, and somehow made her way back to Indonesia with a horde of cash in tow.
52-year-old HR manager Mdm Xie said that the family maid, who was hired a year ago to care for her mother, made off with S$20,000 in stolen cash and another S$10,000 borrowed from Ah Longs.
The maid was last seen on 17 April.
Two hours after informing Mdm Xie’s mom that she was leaving the house, she became uncontactable.
Days later, Mdm Xie’s sister-in-law began receiving text messages from loansharks, some of whom threatened to set fire to the family’s home if they did not O$P$.
A police report was made and that’s when the family discovered that the maid was already back in Indonesia.
When Mdm Xie’s brother went to help their mom withdraw money from her bank account, they realised that there was only S$700 remaining – S$20,000 was gone.
It turns out their mom had trusted the maid enough to ask her to help withdraw money from the account from time to time.
The maid apparently abused that trust and withdrew amounts of up to S$1000 in a day.,
Mdm Xie said that the maid was hardworking and the family had treated her well, buying her clothes as well as giving her a generous red packet for Chinese New Year.
When her mum was hospitalised last year after contracting the Covid-19 virus, the maid even cried out of worry.
She said:
“Now looking back, it feels like it was all an act to gain our trust.”
