In the know

Thanks to the hard work of Surrey Police officers, a shameless thief responsible for six thefts across Surrey, London and Hertfordshire will spend three years in jail.

Monalisa Ion, 44 (DOB 5/1/80), of Foleshill Road, Coventry, would pose as a house cleaner and obtain cleaning jobs through proffering her services to a new agency each time. She was far from squeaky clean however, and would vanish part-way through the job, sometimes hauling a bin bag with her which contained much more than the household rubbish.  

Between January 2022 and January 2024, Ion stole £90,000 worth of jewellery from homes she purported to be cleaning, including a solitaire diamond engagement ring and several luxury brand watches. 

On 5 January 2024, the first Surrey crime came to light when a Farnham homeowner reported an engagement ring and a diamond necklace stolen. A second theft was reported in Farnham at the end of the month, and Surrey officers leapt on the fact that both properties had been cleaned by someone new. It soon became very clear that these were not the first times light-fingered Monalisa Ion had committed this type of crime. 

Officers tracked Ion down to her home address in Coventry where she was arrested. Her phone contained photographs of the stolen jewellery and police also located pawn shop receipts from when she had sold the stolen items. 

On Monday 10 June 2024 Ion was sentenced to three years in prison at Guildford Crown Court after she came clean and pleaded guilty to six counts of theft. 

PC Cummins from Guildford’s local proactive unit said:  “the homeowners trusted Monalisa to be in their homes unsupervised and this high degree of trust was broken. Monalisa planned these thefts by signing up to cleaning companies and when challenged by the victims and cleaning companies she denied any involvement. 

“Her actions have caused significant financial loss and emotional upset, to all those involved as the jewellery stolen held great sentimental value, and all for very little gain.  This sentence demonstrates the seriousness of her offending and the impact it has had on her victims. Surrey Police will continue to work tirelessly to bring those responsible for criminality in our county to justice.”