A 30-year-old Chinese national Zhang Youqi was sentenced to eight months in jail on Tuesday for stealing US$885 ($1,180) from a female passenger’s wallet on a flight from South Korea to Singapore.
According to Zaobao, the incident took place on February 4, when Zhang, who was employed as a tour guide at the time, was aboard a Scoot flight that was scheduled to arrive at Changi Airport at 1:48 PM from Jeju. A 42-year-old Chinese female passenger took her wallet from her bag, which was stored in the overhead compartment, to buy food using her credit card. She then returned her bag to the compartment.
Sitting six rows behind her, Zhang noticed that the passenger was carrying a designer bag and decided to steal it. He took her bag from the overhead compartment, brought it to his seat, and stole the money from her wallet before returning the bag to the compartment.
The passenger saw Zhang return her bag to the compartment and immediately questioned him. He claimed that he was looking for his own bag and pretended to search the nearby compartment. Fearing that the theft would be uncovered, Zhang hid the stolen cash in one of the compartments.
The passenger, feeling suspicious, checked her wallet and found that the money was missing. She and her husband confronted Zhang, who denied the theft. However, two other passengers came forward, stating that they had seen Zhang holding the woman’s bag.
The money, which was stashed in another row, was later discovered by the cabin crew upon the plane’s arrival in Singapore. Zhang later admitted that he had stolen the money to pay off debts he had incurred in China. He was arrested on the same day.
Those found guilty of theft can be jailed for up to three years, fined, or both.
