A 42-year-old man has been sentenced to six months’ jail for stealing money from a donation box at a mosque in Singapore.
According to Channel News Asia, Mohammad Razali Rahmat visited the Al-Huda mosque on Jalan Haji Alias on September 16, 2022, seeking financial aid and was given S$50 by mosque staff.
“Mosque staff gave him S$50 out of goodwill and he was encouraged to volunteer at the mosque to receive more financial aid,” said the prosecutor in court.
He was encouraged to volunteer at the mosque to receive more aid but instead, he returned twice to steal from the donation box.
Razali became familiar with the layout of the mosque while helping staff count money in the donation box during his first visit.
He returned on September 17 and climbed over a perimeter wall to enter the mosque compound. He used a pair of scissors to pry open the donation box and stole S$120 in cash.
He repeated the same thing on December 5, stealing S$50 in loose notes.
The administration manager of the mosque noticed the donation box was unlocked and tampered with and found that money was missing again. He reviewed CCTV footage and saw Razali climbing over the wall and fiddling with the donation box before leaving about 10 minutes later.
Razali was arrested later that day and the S$50 was seized from him.
Razali pleaded guilty to a charge each of housebreaking and criminal trespass to commit theft. Another four charges were taken into consideration. He could have been jailed for up to three months, fined up to S$1,500 or both for criminal trespass to commit theft, and up to 10 years and fined for housebreaking to commit theft.
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