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The Police will be charging a 30-year-old male Indonesian national for his suspected involvement in a case of theft onboard an aircraft and cheating.

On 16 March 2025 at about 4.55am, the Police were alerted to a case of alleged theft involving a victim’s wallet that was placed inside her handbag and stored in the overhead compartment during a flight enroute to Singapore. Preliminary investigations revealed that her debit card from her missing wallet was allegedly used at retail outlets located in the transit area of Changi Airport. The victim subsequently received notifications of these unauthorised transactions on her banking app and she immediately called the Police for assistance.

Through ground enquiries and with the aid of CCTV footage, officers from Airport Police Division established the identity of the man and arrested him within an hour of the report. Further investigations revealed that both the man and victim are known to each other and they had used the same overheard compartment to keep their belongings during the flight.

The man will be charged in court on 27 March 2025 with the following offence of theft under Section 379 of the Penal Code 1871 read with Section 3 of the Tokyo Convention Act 1971 and cheating offences under Section 420 of the Penal Code 1871. The offence of theft carries an imprisonment term of up to three years, or with a fine, or both. The offence of cheating carries an imprisonment term of up to 10 years and shall also be liable to a fine.

The Police have zero tolerance against acts of theft on board an aircraft and will spare no effort to apprehend such offenders. Commander of Airport Police Division, Assistant Commissioner of Police M Malathi 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. This enabled a swift response from us to arrest the man before he could depart from Singapore. We would also like to remind potential crime perpetrators not to take chances on board aircrafts, as such crime doesn’t pay.”