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Two foreign syndicate members flew to Singapore, stole S$570,100 of jewellery from house at Windsor Park
Long Zhihua and Luo Changchang, both Chinese nationals, came to Singapore for the sole purpose of breaking into houses to steal valuables.
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Koh Wan Ting
17 Dec 2024 02:36PM(Updated: 17 Dec 2024 03:16PM)Bookmark
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SINGAPORE: Two men from a criminal syndicate in China scaled a fence of a house along Windsor Park Road and made off with S$570,000 (US$422,000) in jewellery.
Long Zhihua, 38, and Luo Changchang, 44, were caught before they returned to China, but the authorities did not manage to recover S$390,200 in jewellery belonging to the victim, a 53-year-old woman.
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Both men, who are Chinese nationals, pleaded guilty on Tuesday (Dec 17) to one count each of housebreaking.
Long has an additional charge of possessing stolen items, which will be taken into consideration when he is sentenced.
According to court documents, both men are part of a criminal syndicate from China. The duo came to Singapore for the purpose of breaking into houses to steal.
At least five other Chinese nationals from the same syndicate had come to Singapore around June this year for the same purpose.
A spate of housebreaking cases was reported earlier this year, with 10 cases reported in private estates around the Rail Corridor and Bukit Timah Road between early June and August this year. Stolen items across the cases were valued at S$3.85 million, with only a portion recovered.
Long and Luo are linked to these cases. Another man, Wu Jinxing, also a Chinese national, was jailed for seven months on Monday after pleading guilty to a charge of possessing the benefits of criminal conduct from another individual.
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Jail for man who flew to Singapore for one day to pick up housebreaking loot
CHOSE A HOUSE TO BREAK INTO
Long arrived in Singapore on Jun 19 this year while Luo came two days later. Both had return tickets to China on Jun 29, and shared a room at Four Chains Hotel while here.On the evening of Jun 21, the duo left their hotel room and went to the residential estate at Windsor Park Road in the Upper Thomson area, which comprised landed housing including Good Class Bungalows.
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The pair wandered around the estate and looked at houses that they could break into.
They observed that the victim's house had no lights on and that they could climb over the wall fence, which was above 1m. They did so at about 7.40pm.
The two headed to the victim's bedroom where they pried open the glass door. Using a torchlight to find their way around, the pair then opened the wardrobe and looked through the victim's drawers.
Luo placed the jewellery they found into a white plastic bag he picked up in the room. To avoid detection, they replaced all the drawers.
The 27 pieces of jewellery they stole included earrings, hair clips and pendants of precious stones, ranging from a small gold ring worth S$200 to a pair of emerald earrings valued at S$100,000.
There was also a diamond opal choker worth S$28,000, a diamond choker worth S$60,000, and flower-shaped hairclips with a sapphire and a ruby worth S$13,000. In total, the loot was worth S$570,000.
At the time of the theft, the victim's mother and two helpers were in another building within the same premises.
At about 8.15pm, the pair of thieves left the same way they entered.
They continued loitering in the estate searching for other houses to break into before leaving at about 9.45pm.
The victim returned home at about 11.50pm and later discovered that some jewellery she placed on a tray on top of a piano in her room was missing.
Upon further checks, she discovered other items missing and called the police. She said that there were no signs of forced entry into the house.
The authorities traced Long and Luo through closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage from a neighbouring property, and both were arrested on Jun 26.
Some of the victim's jewellery in the hotel room was seized, but others with a value of S$390,200 remained unrecovered.
Other items were seized from the pair's hotel room, including a watch. The two claimed the items did not belong to them. Singapore currency worth S$9,634.60 was also found in the room.
Both have been in remand since their arrest.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Kathy Chu said that Long and Luo were "partially cooperative" as they identified the house they broke into and also revealed that some of the jewellery retrieved from their hotel room had come from another house in the same area.
"However, they failed to disclose the full details of how they had broken into the victim’s room, what happened to the victim’s other jewellery and did not provide information on the other valuables seized," said Ms Chu.
"They also lied about their relationship with each other and their purpose of coming to Singapore."
As a result of the theft, the victim engaged contractors to replace the locks of the doors to her home and repair the door that had been damaged.
She also installed a CCTV system, put up a warning sign on the fencing and a light to prevent and deter thieves. The new security measures cost her S$1,295.
Ms Chu sought a sentence of between five-and-a-half years and six years, with a longer sentence for Long as he had an additional charge to be taken into consideration.
She said that both had acted under the cover of darkness and that the victim bore about S$390,000 in losses and a further S$1,200 for repairs.
"The accused persons were not forthcoming to the police about their reasons for being in Singapore, how they met up, why they were in possession of large amounts of Singapore currency and where the rest of the jewellery they had stolen went to," she added.
Sentencing has been adjourned to Jan 16.
For house-breaking, each man can be jailed up to 10 years, and fined.
