Crime | New shop assistant burgles shop safe box to repay debt

A 24-year-old male local resident, recently hired by a store in Cotai, was found to have taken HKD60,000 from the workplace safe box, the Public Security Police Force (PSP) revealed at the regular police forces joint press conference.
The case was discovered on May 29, when the shop manager called the police to report the theft.
According to the investigation, the shop manager found that the cash kept in the shop’s safe deposit box had been removed and decided to review the footage from the shop’s surveillance cameras.
In the footage, it was possible to recognize a new staff member taking the money from the safe on three occasions on May 25, 27, and 28. The manager said that the man had worked at the shop for less than two weeks.
According to the manager, the passcode of the safe box is commonly given to every staff member to keep the day’s takings secure overnight.
The PSP sought the man at his home in Rua de Coimbra in Taipa, and took him in for questioning.
Questioned by the PSP, the man admitted to having taken the money, trying to justify the act, saying that he needed to repay a debt.
The man has already been referred to the Public Prosecutions Office, and is being charged with the crime of breach of trust, which in the Macau penal code carries a sentence of up to three years of imprisonment or a fine, depending on the severity of the case and the amount involved.