Not a great way to steal: Chinese national jailed for Singapore Airlines business class theft

A Chinese national was sentenced to 20 months imprisonment on Tuesday (Dec 23) for stealing a passenger's luggage on a Singapore Airlines flight from Dubai to Singapore. 

Liu Ming, 26, committed the theft of the luggage containing valuables onboard Singapore Airlines Flight SQ495 on Aug 8. 

According to his charge sheet seen by AsiaOne, the items stolen included foreign currency amounting to about S$12,000, a digital device worth about S$2,100, cigars amounting to S$5,400, and two watches valued at around S$86,000. The total value of items stolen was approximately S$107,500. 

The prosecution said the theft was financed by a criminal syndicate and that Liu had boarded the flight specifically to steal high-value items from business class passengers. 

The thief boarded the flight which left for Singapore on Aug 7. 

He was seated in the business class section while his victim, a 56-year-old Azerbaijani man, was seated five rows ahead of him. The victim's wife was seated in the row before Liu. 

The court heard that the thief struck at around 2am, when dinner service had finished and the cabin lights were dimmed. 

At that time, the cabin crew were in the galley of the plane and the curtains were drawn. Although the victim was asleep, his wife saw Liu taking the luggage from the aircraft's overhead compartment and questioned him. 

The cabin crew were then alerted. When questioned by the crew, Liu claimed that he had made a mistake and was simply confused about his luggage. 

Although no items were missing from the victim's luggage, cabin crew notified the ground staff at Changi Airport and a police report was lodged. Liu was arrested on arrival. 

Despite maintaining his innocence and remaining uncooperative, investigators noted that Liu's luggage had been stored in the compartment above his seat and differed in appearance from the victim's luggage. 

Deputy Public Prosecutor Cheah Wenjie sought a stiff punishment, stating that the offence has reputational implications. 

"The proliferation of theft offences onboard Singapore's national carrier would tarnish its reputation, and that of Singapore's tourist industry," CNA reported the prosecutor as saying. 

Liu's jail term was backdated to the date of his arrest on Aug 8. 

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editor@asiaone.com