Yishun jewellery store manager swaps gold for Taobao fakes, pawns S$216k haul
Darren Wai Mun Jun, 31, an assistant store manager at CHJ Singapore Jewel in Northpoint Drive near Yishun Central 1, stole 24 pieces of gold jewellery worth S$216,613.05 between December 2025 and January 2026. He replaced six pieces with counterfeit copies purchased from Taobao, carefully matching them by weight and appearance, then substituted the remaining 18 with stock from the store's own inventory—exploiting the fact that CHJ had no proper stock-taking system.
To execute the thefts undetected, Wai would arrive early or wait for colleagues to take breaks, then disable the shop's CCTV by switching off the Wi-Fi before making the swaps. He transferred price tags from genuine items to the fakes and reactivated the system afterward. He pawned all 24 stolen pieces across multiple pawnshops, netting S$131,253 in cash, which he used to gamble and pay off debts.
On January 21, 2026, a colleague discovered the scheme when she noticed a gold bangle's weight did not match its price tag and lacked the "CHJ" engraving. Further inspection revealed four counterfeit bangles on display. Wai was sentenced on August 20, 2026, to two years, four months and two weeks' jail after pleading guilty to two counts of theft and one count of dealing with criminal proceeds. Authorities recovered 18 pieces from pawnshops; Wai made no restitution.
- 20 Aug 2026mothership.sg
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