Mid-air heist: Man charged with stealing $23,000 from three fellow passengers
Scoot airlines
A man has been charged with theft after allegedly stealing more than $23,000 in cash from three fellow passengers on a budget flight from Vietnam to Singapore.
The suspect, later identified as Zhang Xiuqiang, a 52-year-old Chinese national, was arrested at the city-state’s Changi Airportover the weekend.
What do we know about the incident?
The incident took place on a two-hour Scoot Airline flight – the low-budget subsidiary of Singapore Airlines – travelling from Ho Chi Minh City to Singapore. Zhang has been charged with three counts of theft on suspicion of ransacking the bags of three passengers.
The Chinese national allegedly stole from three separate passengers, according to the charging documents reported by Singapore’s Channel News Asia.
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Zhang reportedly took about $123 from one passenger’s backpack and took $20,950 and a $38 (50 Singapore dollar note) from a black messenger bag belonging to another.
The 52-year-old allegedly also stole around $1,700 from an envelope he found inside a grey bag belonging to a third passenger.
Zhang was formally charged with theft counts in a Singapore district court on Monday (Dec 18) after being remanded for police investigations. If convicted, he could face up to threeyears in prison, a fine, or both.
How has the airline responded?
An airline spokesperson told CNN that it “was aware of an incident” that occurred onboard a flight from Ho Chi Minh City to Singapore on December 16.
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“Our cabin crew was alerted by a passenger to a suspected theft in the cabin and activated the Airport Police Division,” the spokesperson told CNN.
“The involved passengers were escorted off the aircraft by airport authorities for further investigation, and disembarkation proceeded as usual for the rest of our passengers.”
A Scoot Airline spokesperson told CNN that they cannot give any further details about the case and have also asked crew and passengers to remain vigilant on board.
“Our operating crew are trained to be vigilant and alert authorities of any suspicious behaviour on board our flights,” it said in the statement. “We also advise our customers to safeguard their valuables at all times.”
(With inputs from agencies)