SINGAPORE - A 30-year-old man who went shopping with a stolen debit card at Changi Airport will be charged on March 27 with in-flight theft and cheating.
The incident occurred on a Singapore-bound flight on March 16, when the Indonesian national allegedly stole the wallet of a female passenger, the police said in a press statement on March 26.
The victim’s wallet which was stored in the overhead compartment of the plane and contained her debit card, the police added.
Upon disembarking the aircraft, the woman received notifications on her banking app of unauthorised transactions which were made at retail outlets in the airport’s transit area. At around 4.55am, she contacted the police for assistance.
Through ground enquiries and the review of CCTV footage, officers from the Airport Police Division established the identity of the man and arrested him within an hour of the report.
Investigations showed that the suspect and alleged victim knew each other, added the police, and had both used the same overhead compartment on the flight.
If found guilty of the theft and cheating, the man may be fined and jailed for up to 13 years.
Assistant Commissioner of Police M. Malathi, commander of the Airport Police Division, said: “It was fortunate that the passenger had enabled notifications on her banking app, allowing her to quickly report the unauthorised transactions of her debit card.”
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