Man, 46, stole red packets with cash & vouchers worth about S$1,906 at OCBC Centre, given 10 months’ jail - Mothership

A 46-year-old man was sentenced to 10 months’ jail after he stole several red packets containing NTUC vouchers and cash valued at about S$1,906.

Ramasamy Murugesan, an Indian national, was working as a building technician at the OCBC Centre at Chulia Street.

He faced four charges, including theft and housebreaking.

He pleaded guilty to two charges and was sentenced on Sep. 21.

The remaining charges were taken into consideration during sentencing.

In court documents seen by Mothership, on Mar. 7, 2026, at about 11:27pm, Ramasamy tampered with the electronic door access of the office's side door.

He held onto the sides of the door access cover, pushed it up, and removed it.

Ramasamy then rewired the door and unlocked it.

He entered the office and proceeded to check the workstations for red packets.

Ramasamy eventually found red packets containing S$1,322 in cash and took them.

As he left the office, he reconnected the wire to the door, put the door access cover back, and closed the door.

Surveillance cameras at the office captured Ramasamy's actions.

A few days later, the office manager discovered the red packets were missing after her staff reported the incident.

On Mar. 15, sometime before 8:15pm, Ramasamy was at the OCBC Centre as he intended to sleep over at the workers’ recreational centre.

Troubled by his financial difficulties, Ramasamy recalled seeing red packets lying on the staff tables at the office during work.

He knew the red packets would contain cash, as it was the Chinese New Year celebration period, and he intended to steal them.

At about 8:15pm, Ramasamy used his staff pass to access the cargo lift and entered the seventh level of the OCBC Centre East building.

He then tampered with the electronic door access on the side door of the office, held onto the sides of the door access cover, pushed it up, removed the door access cover and rewired the door, unlocking it.

He entered the office and checked the workstations for red packets.

Ramasamy eventually found red packets containing S$474 in cash and NTUC vouchers valued at S$70.

As he left the office, he reconnected the wire to the door, put the door access cover back, and closed the door.

Separately, at 9:10pm, Ramasamy committed housebreaking at the sixth level of the same office and stole red packets containing S$40 in cash, as well as other red packets containing an unknown amount of cash.

An assistant vice president of a department at OCBC Centre East was eventually informed that the red packets were stolen after his staff reported it to him.

He viewed the surveillance footage and discovered Ramasamy’s actions.

On Mar. 18, at about 4:47pm, the assistant vice president lodged a police report.

Ramasamy was arrested on the same day at about 6:05pm and was charged on Mar. 20.

According to Shin Min Daily News, Ramasamy was apparently the family's sole breadwinner.

After the incident, his family purportedly fell into financial difficulty.