SINGAPORE: A group of foreigners decided to target homes here after watching multiple videos on Chinese social media about the wealth in Singapore.
Some among the six men, reportedly from the same Guizhou province in China, even made three trips to Singapore with the intention of committing housebreaking.
On Thursday (April 30), three men in the group were convicted of multiple charges related to housebreaking.
He Jiao, 38, and Zhou Qifa, 37, pleaded guilty to two counts of housebreaking, one count of being equipped with housebreaking tools, and one count for being part of a locally linked organised crime group.
He was sentenced to five years and three months’ jail for his role. Zhou was sentenced to five years and five months’ jail.
Yang Chao, 42, pleaded guilty to one count of housebreaking, one count for being equipped with housebreaking tools, and one count for being part of a locally linked organised crime group.
He was sentenced to five years and three months’ jail.
The court heard that a fourth man, Zhou Yinggui, 36, did not agree to plead guilty and will be subject to a separate Newton hearing.
Two other Chinese nationals, Hu Wen and Zhou Ji, remain at large.
The court heard that sometime in July 2025, He and Zhou Qifa travelled to Kuala Lumpur to meet up with Yang, Hu and Zhou Ji. The five then committed to a plan to break into houses in Singapore, after seeing multiple videos on Chinese social media touting the wealth in the Republic.
The five then entered Singapore on July 16 with the intention of breaking into homes here.
Upon their arrival, Zhou Qifa went to a hardware store to purchase flat-tip screwdrivers and wrenches for the group, as a flat-tip screwdriver would make it easier to pry open windows and doors.
Thereafter, they split into two separate groups to look for houses to break into. They agreed that any successful loot would be split among the five.
The five men then scouted landed properties across several neighbourhoods in Singapore on the nights of July 16 and 17, 2025, looking out for houses in secluded areas that were adjacent to forested areas or parks.
They also singled out houses that appeared to be empty, with no lights on, CCTV and dogs, to evade detection.
On July 18, 2025, Yang and Hu identified a suitable target to break into. Investigations revealed that the owners of the house were overseas at the time, leaving only their domestic helper at home.
The pair waited until nightfall before approaching the house from a forested area at the back.
Yang remained outside to keep a lookout while Hu climbed over the fence to enter into the house. He then found and removed a safe from the house, before the pair left through the forested area.
The second group were unsuccessful in identifying a suitable house to break into, and the five men left Singapore together on July 19, 2025.
Altogether, the group made away with cash and items amounting to more than $56,400. The items were never recovered.
He, Zhou Qifa and Zhou Ji decided to return to Singapore to continue their plan, and arrived on July 22, 2025.
Between July 22 and 24, 2025, the trio encountered police officers patrolling the MacRitchie area while they were scouting for houses to break into and aborted their plan.
The three men left Singapore on July 24, 2025.
He, Zhou Qifa and Yang returned to Singapore on Aug 8, 2025, to attempt more break-ins. This time they were joined by Zhou Yinggui, who had just been recruited.
They split into two pairs, and agreed that any successful loot would be split among them.
He and Zhou Qifa took a private hire car to King Albert Park Mall at about 6pm, while Yang and Zhou Yinggui alighted at Jelita Mall.
The men then walked towards the rail corridor, entering the forested areas to scout for suitable houses to break into.
Unknown to them, the police had already been alerted to their entry into Singapore, after a police report was made about the July 18 robbery, and the authorities had commenced an operation in the Holland-Bukit Timah area to catch the suspects.
A neighbour of the house they had broken into on July 18 had helped to make a police report on July 19, 2025, after the victim’s domestic helper found out about the theft.
As He and Zhou Qifa were searching for houses near Bukit Timah Road around 8pm, they were spotted by police officers who had been stationed there to look for the foreign nationals.
He was arrested on the spot but Zhou Qifa managed to flee, leaving the area by bus. Zhou Qifa was arrested about 40 minutes later after being tracked down to 321 Clementi Shopping Centre.
Meanwhile, police officers spotted Yang and Zhou Yinggui in a forested area, wearing balaclavas and gloves. Yang was caught and arrested but Zhou Yinggui managed to flee. He was arrested a day later at the hotel the four men were staying in.
During investigations, He admitted he had previously been convicted of housebreaking in China in 2015 and was sentenced to a year in jail. Zhou Qifa admitted he had been convicted of theft in China sometime around 2018. He had been sentenced to five months’ jail.
In sentencing on April 30, District Judge Terence Tay said Singaporeans are accustomed to law and order, and that this way of life should not be threatened by foreigners who view Singapore as an easy target.
“Like-minded foreigners should take heed and be mindful of the effectiveness of law enforcement in Singapore, and the law will come down hard on them if they are caught,” said the judge.
Their conviction comes amid a spate of housebreaking incidents in Singapore.
Between June and August 2024, the police received 10 reports of burglaries at landed properties, where about $3.85 million in cash and valuables were stolen.
Altogether, there were 118 cases of housebreaking in Singapore in 2024. That number fell slightly to 108 cases in 2025.
In their 2025 annual statistics, the police said most of the offences were believed to be from the work of syndicates that use the Rail Corridor as a hiding place. - The Straits Times/ANN
