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SINGAPORE: A man who took a passenger’s luggage on a Singapore Airlines flight from Dubai to Singapore was jailed for 20 months on Tuesday (Dec 23).<\/p>\n
Liu Ming, a 26-year-old Chinese national, pleaded guilty to one charge of theft.<\/p>\n
The act was financed by a criminal syndicate, and Liu had boarded the flight specifically to steal high-value items from business class passengers, said the prosecution.<\/p>\n
His case follows other convictions for onboard theft this year, including one case of an offender who had accomplices on board the Scoot flight where he struck.<\/p>\n
Liu was seated in the business class section of flight SQ495, which left Dubai for Singapore in the evening of Aug 7.<\/p>\n
The victim, a 52-year-old Azerbaijani man, was seated five rows in front of Liu, while his wife was seated one row in front of Liu.<\/p>\n
The victim and Liu did not know each other.<\/p>\n
Liu acted in the early hours of Aug 8, when the dinner service had finished and the cabin lights had been dimmed.<\/p>\n
At the time, the victim was asleep while the victim’s wife had just woken from a short nap. The cabin crew were in the cabin pantry with the curtains drawn.<\/p>\n
Liu walked to the victim’s seat and opened the overhead compartment. He took the victim’s luggage and carried it back to his seat.<\/p>\n
The victim’s wife saw Liu moving her husband’s bag and confronted him, asking whether the bag belonged to him.<\/p>\n
As she did not understand his response, she alerted the cabin crew. While she did so, Liu returned the unopened bag to the compartment above the victim’s seat and returned to his own seat.<\/p>\n
When the cabin crew questioned him, Liu lied that he had made a mistake and was confused about his luggage.<\/p>\n
A search of the victim’s bag confirmed that no items were missing. The total value of items in the bag exceeded S$100,000 (US$78,000).<\/p>\n
This comprised cash in various currencies amounting to about S$12,000; a Huawei laptop worth about S$2,100; 56 cigars worth more than S$5,400; a Chopard watch worth more than S$35,000; and an Audemars Piguet watch worth more than S$51,000.<\/p>\n
Cabin crew notified the ground staff at Changi Airport and a police report was made. Liu was arrested upon arrival at the airport.<\/p>\n
He was uncooperative during investigations, denying the theft and falsely maintaining that he had mistaken the victim’s bag as his own and wanted to get his toiletries.<\/p>\n
This was even though Liu’s bag, which differed from the victim’s in appearance and material, was stored in the compartment above his own seat.<\/p>\n
Deputy Public Prosecutor Cheah Wenjie sought 20 to 24 months’ jail for Liu. He argued for a stiff sentence because the offence engages the public interest.<\/p>\n
“The proliferation of theft offences onboard Singapore’s national carrier would tarnish its reputation, and that of Singapore’s tourist industry,” he said.<\/p>\n
Mr Cheah also pointed to the difficulty of detecting such onboard thefts, which has been highlighted in past similar cases.<\/p>\n
This is because unsuspecting victims cannot keep a constant eye on their belongings on a flight, and cabin crew also cannot monitor every passenger throughout the duration of a flight, he said.<\/p>\n
The punishment for theft is up to three years in jail, a fine or both penalties.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n