It was a 'pick up and pay later' service that did not exist.
A man was caught on CCTV cameras removing a box of Milo from a wholesaler's warehouse and driving away with it in his Mercedes.
The incident occurred on Thursday (May 5) at about 5.20pm in an industrial building located around Woodlands Close, Shin Min Daily News reported.
The 56-year-old wholesaler, who was not named, told reporters on Saturday that he had received a call from a customer stating that a carton of Milo was missing from his order when he arrived to take the goods from the warehouse.
The wholesaler then asked the building management to review the CCTV footage.
From the video, he saw a man driving a Mercedes stopping his car and picking up the box containing the beverage.
"He put the box into his boot and drove off. The whole thing lasted about two minutes," he said, adding that the theft had occurred after all employees had gone off for the day.
He added that he recognised the driver of the Mercedes and had seen him around the area.
At the advice of the customer, he made a police report.
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According to the customer, who works in the vending machine business, he was coming to collect 40 cartons of drinks when he discovered that one carton was missing. He had initially thought the wholesaler had made a mistake.
Police have confirmed the incident and investigations are ongoing, Shin Min Daily News reported.
The wholesaler told the Chinese evening daily that at about 1pm on Friday (May 6), the Mercedes driver appeared at the warehouse and simply said, "I'm here to return the money".
He added that the man did not apologise but merely paid the $18 and left.
"I recognised him. From last year, he came to the warehouse twice to pay for cartons of mineral water he admitted he had taken."
He suspected that the man had gotten wind that a police report was made and so hurriedly came to pay up. He added that the man's face was "ashen" when he arrived.
The wholesaler said he is considering dropping the case as the money has been paid and he believes the man would no longer dare to repeat the offence.
candicecai@asiaone.com