Camy Tam
The manageress of a local restaurant was arrested on Friday for embezzling about 240,000 patacas from her employer since January last year, Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Chan Wun Man said at a press briefing yesterday.
The 38-year-old suspect surnamed Ye is a non-resident worker from the mainland. Chan said that Ye had worked for the eatery located in San Kio district for 12 years. She was the manageress at the time of the arrest.
According to Chan, the restaurant owner and the suspect went to a police station on Friday. The owner told the police that Ye had embezzled 240,000 patacas between January last year and Friday.
After becoming suspicious, the owner had checked the cash register records through her smartphone app as well as the eatery’s CCTV footage and discovered that Ye had deleted some of the cash income records every day from the system and embezzled the money.
Chan said PJ officers scrutinised the eatery’s CCTV footage and discovered that Ye had been deleting a number of cash register transaction records every day since January last year. She did not put the cash paid by the clients into the cash register but kept it in a small bag which was under the cash counter, and before leaving the eatery after work, she put the bag in her handbag.
Under questioning, Ye admitted to having embezzled the eatery’s money since January last year. She told the police that she had deleted some of the cash transactions from the register every day, each time the embezzled money ranged between 500 and 1,000 patacas, totalling about 10,000 patacas a month. She told the police that she had used the money to pay off her debts and cover her daily expenses, according to Chan, adding that the Judiciary Police are continuing their investigation into the case.
Ye was transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) on Saturday, facing charges of aggravated theft and computer fraud, according to Chan.
Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Chan Wun Man looks on during yesterday’s press briefing at the Public Security Police (PSP) press room. Photo: Camy Tam
