Tourists jailed for stealing, using stolen credit cards
By Alvina Soh | Posted: 22 December 2011 1916 hrs
SINGAPORE: Three Mongolian tourists have been jailed for stealing and using stolen credit cards.
The trio thought Singapore was an easy place to pick-pocket so they targeted victims in several crowded places.
They also ran up illegal purchases on the stolen credit cards.
Twenty-five-year-old Khurelkhuyag Khasbat, who chalked up more than S$81,000 in purchases of jewellery and electronic devices, was sentenced to six-and-a-half-years' jail for multiple counts of theft and cheating with abetment.
His accomplices, Viktor Bayarsaikhan and Togtokh Erkhembaatar, both aged 31, were each jailed four-and-a-half-years for helping him with illegal transactions worth S$29,205.
The three men committed the offences over three days in October this year.
The court heard Viktor conspired with Togtokh to pick-pocket at crowded places, and passed the stolen credit cards to Khurelkhuyag.
Khurelkhuyag then bought bracelets, rings and iPads from Mustafa Shopping Centre, with the intention of bringing them back to Mongolia for re-sale or for their own consumption.
He spent between S$3,663 and S$7,919 each time on three different credit cards.
The trio, who also worked together to steal a mobile phone from a woman's handbag at Clarke Quay, were arrested on 16 October.
Full restitution has since been made and the items were recovered.
Investigations revealed Khurelkhuyag had also engaged in similar conspiracies with two other accomplices, who are still at large, in June and September this year.
Back then, Khurelkhuyag had used various stolen credit cards from his accomplices to make payments for electronic devices and jewellery worth about S$52,534 in total.
But the court heard some items were not recovered and he has not made full restitution in those cases.
- CNA/wk
