Brief stop at JB mall costs S'pore family their car

Brief stop at JB mall costs S'pore family their car

In yet another case of a Singapore-registered car stolen in Johor Baru, a Honda Stream disappeared from the carpark of Perling Mall last Saturday.

Engineer Arunachalam Sathiamoorthy told The Straits Times that he had parked near the mall at around 3.30pm for a quick bite.

The 48-year-old had gone on a two-day trip to beach getaway Desaru with his wife and daughter, and was on the way back to Singapore when he lost his way.

"My daughter was hungry, so we decided to make a brief stop to get her some food, but my car was gone when I returned less than an hour later," said Mr Sathiamoorthy.

"If I had not got lost, this would not have happened. But I never expected it to have been stolen so quickly."

To make matters worse, he discovered that one of the three credit cards left in the vehicle was used by the thief at 5.36pm that day.

The RM200 (S$71) transaction was recorded at a nearby petrol station. Mr Sathiamoorthy also lost two cash cards, an iPhone 6 Plus and two suitcases containing the family's clothes.

He said the Johor police had informed him that a review of surveillance footage showed his car exiting the carpark, although the time was not known.

But he believes that the theft of his car could be connected to a similar case on Monday, when fellow Singaporean Nolan Khoo's Honda Civic was stolen in 10 seconds at JB's Tebrau City, about 16km away from Perling Mall.

Mr Sathiamoorthy had met Mr Khoo at the insurance company on Tuesday as both were filing their claims.

"It could have been a coincidence, but two Hondas from Singapore stolen in quick fashion within three days? I have warned my friends to avoid driving across the Causeway for now," said Mr Sathiamoorthy.

mklee@sph.com.sg


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