SINGAPORE: A man was on board a Scoot flight from Singapore to Indonesia when he stole S$750 in cash and three bank cards from another passenger.
An alert crew member told the captain of the aircraft about the offender’s actions and the Chinese national was sent back to Singapore after the plane landed in Jakarta.
On Tuesday (April 28), Ren Bin, 50, was sentenced to eight months’ jail after he pleaded guilty to a theft charge.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Vishnu Menon told the court that Ren had boarded the Scoot flight on the morning of Oct 2, 2025, and sat in seat 10D.
At around the same time, the 48-year-old Singaporean victim placed his bag, which contained a wallet, in an overhead compartment near row six and sat in seat 5C.
Ren decided to steal the younger man’s belongings at around 11.30am.
He made his way to row six, opened the overhead compartment, took the victim’s bag and returned to his own seat.
After that, he retrieved the victim’s wallet and took the three bank cards and S$750 in cash.
He placed his loot inside a black plastic bag and returned the victim’s bag to the overhead compartment.
After observing Ren’s actions, a 32-year-old cabin crew member alerted the victim, who confirmed that several items were missing from his bag.
The crew member then alerted the captain, who told the Indonesian authorities about the incident.
The prosecutor said: “Before the plane landed... the accused grew suspicious that his crime had been discovered. He threw the black plastic bag containing the items under the seat of the row in front of him. This was to avoid being detected as the thief.
“Once the plane landed... Indonesian authorities boarded (it), retrieved the black plastic bag containing the items and escorted the accused and victim out of the plane.” They then handed the plastic bag to the victim.
Ren was placed on another Scoot flight back to Singapore and was arrested after he arrived at Changi Airport at around 2.40am the next day.
For theft, an offender can be jailed for up to three years or fined, or both. - The Straits Times/ANN
