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Three Nabbed Over Alleged Links To Pickpocketing Ring
Between August 6 to 8, 2016, officers from Central Division and the Commercial Affairs Department conducted extensive ground enquiries and surveillance to detect the members of the pick-pocket syndicate.
August 10th, 2016 | 09:17 AM | 1231 views
SINGAPORE
Three men who are believed to be part of a pickpocketing syndicate that went on shopping sprees at luxury shops using stolen credit cards have been arrested and will be charged in court today for cheating.
It was unclear how many cases the three are implicated in, where the alleged pickpocketing took place and how long this had gone on.
But when they were nabbed at Changi Airport on Monday, the police found an assortment of foreign currencies on them. Items such as wallets, belts, bags, watches and perfume were also seized. In total, the cash and goods were valued at an estimated S$29,000.
In a press release yesterday, the police said it was alerted to a case of suspected cheating at a luxury retail watch store along Orchard Road last Saturday.
A sales assistant of the shop smelled something fishy when a customer who had been conversing with two other Chinese men in Mandarin presented a credit card bearing a Japanese name. The employee also noted that the customer had a strong Chinese accent.
When the credit card transaction failed to go through because of a system error, the three men left the shop.
The police said the credit card used belonged to a Japanese tourist who had not realised his wallet was missing.
For the next two days, officers from Central Police Division and the Commercial Affairs Department interviewed people on the ground and conducted surveillance to try to track down the members of the pickpocketing syndicate.
The police laid an ambush at Changi Airport on Monday and arrested the men between 11.45am and 1.50pm.
Based on preliminary investigation findings, the pickpocketing syndicate would usually target tourists.
The stolen credit cards were then used to make purchases at various luxury stores.
Under the Penal Code, the offence of cheating carries a maximum punishment of 10 years’ jail and a fine.
Source:
courtesy of TODAY
by TODAY
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