Jul 27, 2010
Jewellery thief caught
<!-- by line --> By Lee Jia Xin
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<!-- end left side bar --> <!-- story content : start --> POLICE have arrested a 'smooth-talking' man who is suspected of stealing more than $16,000 worth of jewellery. The 43-year-old committed the crimes at two goldsmith shops in Bukit Merah Central and Tanglin Halt within a span of 24 hours. He took off with jewellery worth over $16,000 from both stores.
In the Bukit Merah theft, the man had entered the shop to look at jewellery on the pretext of buying them for his girlfriend on Monday at about 2 pm. After picking $10,000 worth of jewellery, the man told the staff that he was going out for a short while to show the jewellery to his girlfriend and would come back to confirm the purchase later. He took off with the jewellery and did not return.
He used the same ruse at a goldsmith shop at Tanglin Halt on Sunday and made off with about S$6,020 worth of jewellery. Officers from Clementi Police Division managed to establish the suspect's identity and arrested him at Sentosa at about 10 pm on Monday. The police have recovered some of the stolen jewellery, pawnshop tickets and cash. The suspect will be charged in court on Wednesday for theft. If convicted, he faces a jail term of up to seven years and/or a fine.
