Thieves steal $400k ring at Jewel Fest

It is a ring that costs as much as a resale four-room HDB flat and for days the sales assistants thought they had it all sealed up in a box.

But the $400,000 ring had been stolen a few days earlier. Last Monday, thieves walked into the Singapore Jewel Fest at the Ngee Ann City Civic Plaza and by using sleight of hand, made off with the piece of jewellery from right under the noses of the sales assistants.

According to the police, the thieves said that they wanted to buy the ring when they visited the exhibition that day.

They then claimed that they needed time to withdraw money to make payment.

After handing over an undisclosed sum of cash as deposit, they asked for the ring to be sealed in a box.

The sales assistants complied and the thieves helped to seal it. However, they did not return to collect the ring. When the sealed box was opened a few days later, the ring was gone. The 10-day Singapore Jewel Fest ended on Sunday.

STAYING VIGILANT

Following the incident, police have advised all sales staff members to ensure that every piece of jewellery is accounted for after attending to customers. Sales staff have also been told to stay vigilant, especially when dealing with customers who request for many jewellery pieces to be taken out of their display cases.

In August last year, three Colombians were each jailed six months after they stole $16,128 worth of pearls from a Japan-based wholesaler leaving the Singapore International Jewellery Show.

ashaffiq@sph.com.sg

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