Man took $700k in SK-II beauty products from employer and sold them to pay $1m personal debt

Shaffiq Alkhatib
The Straits Times
May 2, 2023

A warehouse supervisor who incurred a $1 million debt from gambling and other spending misappropriated nearly $700,000 in SK-II beauty products from his employer and sold the items to two online sellers.

Foo You Ann received up to $250,000 from the two individuals. Their details were not mentioned in court documents.

The 50-year-old was sentenced to four years and six months’ jail on Tuesday after he pleaded guilty to one count of criminal breach of trust.

At the time of the offences, Foo was working for Luxury Ventures (Beauty) and was stationed in Sentosa Gateway, where he was in charge of receiving goods from suppliers before sending them to stores.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Lim Yu Hui said Foo had borrowed $1 million in September 2022 after losing money from gambling and other activities.

Desperate to cover his debt, Foo hatched a plan to misappropriate some items from the warehouse to sell them for profit.

He contacted two individuals who sold beauty products online and asked them if they wanted SK-II products. They agreed to buy the items using cash and bank transfers.

Between September and November 2022, Foo dishonestly misappropriated nearly $700,000 in SK-II products from the warehouse on at least two occasions.

He admitted that he received about $150,000 to $250,000 in total from both buyers.

The prosecutor said that Foo was arrested before he could deliver the products.

His offences came to light when an assistant manager went to the warehouse and realised that some of the SK-II products were not in their boxes.

She asked Foo if the boxes were empty before they arrived at the warehouse, but he did not answer her query.

The assistant manager then contacted their general manager, who confronted Foo, and he admitted to the offences. The police were alerted on Nov 17, 2022.

Court documents did not mention if the items Foo took were recovered, but he has made no restitution.

For criminal breach of trust, he could have been jailed for up to 15 years and fined.