Woman who stole 19 bottles of wine caught by Sheng Siong’s facial recognition system

SINGAPORE – A woman who stole wine from the same Sheng Siong outlet on multiple occasions was identified by the supermarket chain’s facial recognition technology.

Catherine Tan Li Eng, 51, was sentenced to eight days’ jail on May 12 after pleading guilty to an amalgamated charge for theft.

An amalgamated charge combines multiple similar offences into a single charge while allowing for a higher maximum punishment compared with a charge for a single offence.

The court heard Tan stole a total of 19 bottles of Jacob’s Creek red wine from the Sheng Siong outlet in Punggol Central over seven occasions in September 2025.

The total value of the stolen wine was over $550.

While Tan began her spree on Sept 2, 2025, the supermarket discovered the missing bottles only during an inventory check on Sept 10, 2025.

The staff then reviewed security camera footage and saw Tan leaving the supermarket earlier that day without paying for the bottles of wine she had placed in a reusable bag.

They used the footage to flag her face in the facial recognition system, which then automatically identified the other instances when she had stolen wine.

The supermarket chain has been using the technology since April 2024.

By flagging Tan’s face in the system, it would also prompt the store managers should she visit any Sheng Siong outlet again.

This happened when she visited the same outlet at noon the next day, Sept 11, 2025.

She was intercepted by staff, who checked her bags as she was leaving and found that she had stolen another three bottles of wine.

The police were called and Tan was arrested.

She has made full restitution for the stolen bottles of wine. Her motive for stealing the items was not mentioned in court.

For the amalgamated theft charge, she could have been jailed for up to six years and fined.