Woman caught by Sheng Siong’s facial recognition tech after shoplifting 12 times gets week’s jail

SINGAPORE - A shoplifter visited the same Sheng Siong supermarket branch on 12 occasions to steal groceries between May and Aug 2025, and was identified through its facial recognition CCTV technology.

An assistant supervisor at the Sin Ming Avenue outlet received an alert when gym coach Leong Seek Yuen, 45, returned there on Oct 1 that year, and she was arrested soon after.

On Oct 8, Leong, who has made full restitution, pleaded guilty to a theft charge and was sentenced to a week in jail. She had stolen groceries worth nearly $90.

Leong was one of two women charged with theft in November 2025 after they were identified through the supermarket chain’s facial recognition CCTV technology.

The other shoplifter, who had gone to its Punggol Central outlet, was sentenced to eight days’ jail in May.

For the current case, State Prosecuting Officer Lee Cheng Wah told the court that between May 27 and Aug 12, 2025, Leong went to the Sin Ming Avenue outlet 12 times to shoplift meat products and drinks.

On each occasion, she went to a self-checkout kiosk with a shopping basket, and scanned some of the items. She did not scan the remaining groceries.

Leong paid for the scanned items before leaving the premises with them and the stolen items.

The supermarket’s CCTV cameras caught her shoplifting, and during a stock check on Sept 29, 2025, the assistant supervisor discovered some items were unaccounted for.

He reviewed the CCTV footage and received an alert when Leong returned on Oct 1 that year. He alerted the police and officers arrested her.

On Oct 8, defence lawyer Mitchell Leon Siu Kin told the court that Leong had been diagnosed with a form of depressive disorder, stressing she had made full restitution.

Sheng Siong has been using facial recognition technology since April 2024.

Shoplifting suspects are typically identified only after they leave the store with unpaid items.

Staff members trawl through security footage and identify the culprit, whose face is then flagged in the system.

When that person visits a Sheng Siong outlet again, the system alerts store managers.

Suspects’ faces are removed from the system after their arrest.

According to the police’s mid-year crime brief released in August, the number of shop theft cases has increased from 2,050 cases in the first half of 2025, to 2,095 in the first half of 2026.

Items typically stolen included food, drinks, clothes and personal care products.

The police said shop theft remains one of the top offences committed by youth, most of whom target places such as supermarkets and convenience stores.

For shoplifting, an offender can be jailed for up to seven years, and fined.

Shaffiq Alkhatib is The Straits Times’ court correspondent, covering mainly criminal cases heard at the State Courts.