Jailed for stealing anodes, liquor

A Malaysian who helped his accomplices steal $800,000 worth of silver anodes from a factory was jailed for 30 months yesterday.

Thein Selvan Krishnasamy, 38, admitted to committing house trespass at Hitachi Cable Singapore with at least four other men in November 2008 with the intention to steal .

The technician also admitted to stealing four bottles of liquor worth $1,280 at the Lighthouse Rooftop Bar in Fullerton Hotel, with his colleague Azlan Ali, 41, on March 30 this year, while they were employed by the hotel.

The court heard that on Nov 30, 2008, Selvan and his accomplices went to the industrial area in Lok Yang Way where they cut the fence to enter the Hitachi factory.

Once they got in, they sprayed paint over the closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras to avoid being detected.

Selvan covered his face with a cloth and waited under an overhead bridge next to the fence while his accomplices loaded the silver anodes weighing 830kg onto trolleys and wheeled them out to him.

He helped to transfer the silver anodes from the trolley to the outside of the factory.

Four cars arrived and the group formed a human chain to load the anodes into the vehicles.

Two weeks later, he received RM30,000 (S$11,655) for his help.

In the meantime investigators took DNA samples from the scene.It was during investigations into the liquor theft that a match came up between his DNA and that found at the factory.

The identities of his accomplices are unknown.

In the liquor theft case, the court heard that a few days before the incident, Selvan and Azlan were talking about going to Indonesia when Selvan said he would not have enough money to buy liquor there because of his tight budget.

They then devised a plan to steal from the bar.

On March 30, Azlan tripped the power supply of the main circuit box of the bar, disabling the lights and CCTV cameras.

They then stole the four bottles of liquor from the liquor cabinet.

Three bottles were subsequently recovered from the switch room at the basement of the hotel.

One bottle had been consumed by Selvan.

Azlan has not been dealt with.

This article was first published on JUNE 20, 2014.
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