Probation for woman who planned fake burglary to steal S$57,000 worth of items from her family

• Tiffany Tan Hwee Shuan received 15 months’ probation
• The twin brothers, whom she had roped in to steal from her family, were jailed
• Tan’s lawyer had asked for a probation suitability report to be called, arguing that Tan was 21 years old at the time of the offence
   

SINGAPORE — A woman, who hatched a plan last July to fool her family into thinking that their home in Bukit Batok was burgled to steal more than S$57,000 worth of items, was sentenced to probation on Thursday (July 15).

Tiffany Tan Hwee Shuan, 22, was ordered to undergo a 15-month split probation, comprising three months of intensive regime and 12 months of supervised regime, during which she has to stay indoors from 11pm to 6am and perform 60 hours of community service. 

Her parents were also ordered to pay a S$5,000 bond to ensure her good behaviour.

Tan’s plot involved roping in her 25-year-old boyfriend Oh Jia Kai and his twin brother Oh Jia Cheng.

Oh Jia Kai and Oh Jia Cheng were sentenced to 15 weeks and nine weeks in jail respectively in May. That day, the court heard that the prosecution was seeking at least six months jail for Tan — the highest among the trio — because she had orchestrated the plan.

On Thursday, the prosecution sought five months for Tan instead in light of the sentences that the Oh brothers had received.

Tan's lawyer, Mr Kelvin Tan of Vicki Heng Law Corporation, had asked for a probation suitability report to be called, arguing that Tan was 21 years old at the time of the offence.

Probation is usually offered to first-time offenders between 16 and 21 years old and does not result in a criminal record. 

Asking for community-based sentencing or short custodial order to be considered as well, Mr Tan had also pointed out that his client is “severely and sincerely contrite” that she had involved others and has a family who is “supportive of us seeking a lenient sentence on her”.

He also read out two letters from Tan’s family members including one from her brother, who wrote that it pains his family to see what Tan is going through and it had particularly “taken a toll on (their) father who is very unwell”.

RECAP OF THE CASE

The court heard that Tan first planned to steal a safe containing a S$11,500 Rolex watch, two gold rings and cash, among other things from her brother Theron Tan, then 28. 

She later discovered her father had S$34,000 in cash in his bag. 

The day before the theft, she rented a car to drive and another one to store the stolen items. 

On July 11 at about 10pm, Tan and her boyfriend left the house with Tan’s mother to have supper while Tan’s father and brother were out. 

When they got into the rented car, Tan lied that she had left her mobile phone at home.

She went back into her house on the pretence of retrieving her mobile phone. She then dragged the stolen items to the lift lobby and shouted to Oh Jia Cheng who was standing by on the floor above to take the loot. Tan then rejoined her boyfriend and mother.

The stolen items were then stowed away in a self-storage facility.

Oh Jia Kai handed the S$34,000 belonging to Tan’s father to a friend for safekeeping and took S$14,000 out to spend on Tan for her birthday, which was on July 23.

Oh Jia Kai gave her S$950, paid S$2,800 to a bar for her birthday party on July 22 and bought her a S$3,150 Louis Vuitton bag in which he placed cash amounting S$7,100.

The police raided the storage facility on July 22 and later managed to recover S$27,100 in cash along with the Louis Vuitton bag and other items.