Man behind heist gets time in jail
by Teo Xuanwei
05:55 AM Jan 07, 2010
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Gopikumar Menon S G M Garunagaran (picture), 37, had - with three others - carried out the heist, the court heard yesterday.
Having worked in the airport previously, Gopikumar, who is self-employed, knew that container shipments with valuable cargo were stored in some warehouses.
So he hatched a plan with Malaysian Suresh Raja Sanglagan, 34, to steal one such container.
Suresh called his friend Hardev Singh Gegindar Singh and promised the 40-year-old $3,000 if he helped with the theft.
The latter, in turn, got Sariman Mohamed Noor, 39, to be the driver for the burglary.
At 10pm on Aug 29 last year, Gopikumar, Suresh and Sariman sneaked into SDV Logistics, located along Jurong Port Road.
With Suresh acting as lookout, Gopikumar broke into containers, looking for valuable goods.
He was successful on his third attempt. In the container, which was shipped in from France only a day earlier, were more than 153,000 pieces of Christian Dior cosmetics and perfumes. These were valued at more than ?507,000 ($1.02 million).
With Sariman driving a prime mover, the trio towed the container away and met up with Hardev in Jalan Buroh.
After they unloaded the loot onto Hardev\'s lorry, Gopikumar gave his accomplices $1,000 to share among themselves.
They abandoned the empty container in Penjuru Road the following day.
Following their arrest, most of the stolen goods were recovered in a Kaki Bukit warehouse that Gopikumar had rented.
Suresh has earlier been jailed for 32 months but Hardev and Sariman have not been dealt with.
Gopikumar could have been jailed for up to three years and/or fined.
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SINGAPORE - A man who planned a burglary of $1 million worth of branded cosmetics and perfumes was sentenced to 32 months in jail yesterday. Gopikumar Menon S G M Garunagaran (picture), 37, had - with three others - carried out the heist, the court heard yesterday.
Having worked in the airport previously, Gopikumar, who is self-employed, knew that container shipments with valuable cargo were stored in some warehouses. So he hatched a plan with Malaysian Suresh Raja Sanglagan, 34, to steal one such container.
Suresh called his friend Hardev Singh Gegindar Singh and promised the 40-year-old $3,000 if he helped with the theft. The latter, in turn, got Sariman Mohamed Noor, 39, to be the driver for the burglary. At 10pm on Aug 29 last year, Gopikumar, Suresh and Sariman sneaked into SDV Logistics, located along Jurong Port Road.
With Suresh acting as lookout, Gopikumar broke into containers, looking for valuable goods. He was successful on his third attempt. In the container, which was shipped in from France only a day earlier, were more than 153,000 pieces of Christian Dior cosmetics and perfumes. These were valued at more than ?507,000 ($1.02 million).
With Sariman driving a prime mover, the trio towed the container away and met up with Hardev in Jalan Buroh. After they unloaded the loot onto Hardev's lorry, Gopikumar gave his accomplices $1,000 to share among themselves. They abandoned the empty container in Penjuru Road the following day.
Following their arrest, most of the stolen goods were recovered in a Kaki Bukit warehouse that Gopikumar had rented. Suresh has earlier been jailed for 32 months but Hardev and Sariman have not been dealt with. Gopikumar could have been jailed for up to three years and/or fined.
