Woman buying bird's nest helps herself to 'freebie' ginseng worth $1.1k, flees from Chinatown shop

Woman buying bird's nest helps herself to 'freebie' ginseng worth $1.1k, flees from Chinatown shop

A couple stole top-grade ginseng worth S$1,100 after purchasing some bird's nest, while an employee was busy retrieving complimentary gifts for another customer.

The incident happened on April 20, 2017, in Thye Shan Medical Hall, a traditional Chinese medicine shop at Chinatown, and the owner has since lodged a police report, reports Shin Min Daily News via Lianhe Zaobao.

The incident was captured on CCTV.

A 38-year-old manager of Thye Shan Medical Hall told reporters: "A customer had purchased the ginseng worth S$1,100.

"The ginseng was placed at cashier while one of our staff went to retrieve complimentary gifts for the customer."

CCTV footage revealed that the woman in a yellow top, along with a male accomplice, had entered the shop and purchased some bird's nest at the same time.

After the man paid for the bird's nest at around 5.20pm, the two left the shop independently.

The woman grabbed the box of ginseng which had been purchased by the other customer and placed it into a white bag that she was carrying, before leaving the shop.

The manager continued: "No one knew that the ginseng had been stolen.

"It was only after the customer who bought the ginseng told us that it was missing, did we realise. Our employees searched high and low but could not find it.

"We have lodged a police report and printed out posters of the suspects' faces which we pasted in the store. We also hope to find witnesses."

The police have confirmed that a report was lodged and that the case is currently under investigation.

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