Duo in ‘movie-like’ heist in Pasir Panjang jailed 4.5 years each
Cash amounting to about S$500,000 kept in the safe had been stolen. Photo: Singapore Police Force/Facebook
SINGAPORE — On a holiday here after travelling in Thailand and Malaysia, Ngo Quang Phuoc and Nguyen Van Nhat, both Vietnamese nationals, took the time to visit local sights such as Haw Par Villa and Marina Bay Sands (MBS) .
But when their luck ran out at the MBS casino and left them with insufficient cash to buy air tickets home, the duo turned their holiday into a heist, devising what the prosecution called a “meticulously hatched” plan to rob Nguyen’s former employer here, a fruits wholesaler at Pasir Panjang wholesale centre.
Armed with over S$300 worth of tools, the duo managed to make off with some half-a-million dollars from a safe in the store. But the police caught up with the two while they were living it up at MBS, and on Thursday (March 10) they were each sentenced to four-and-a-half years’ jail for one count of housebreaking by night each.
Ngo, 35, and Nguyen, 23, arrived here on New Year’s Day, and checked into a hotel in Geylang. On Jan 2, they visited the MBS casino and lost thouands of dollars through gambling. Pressed for cash, they decided to steal to pay for their way home, and Nguyen, who had worked at Loh Ee Seng Trading Company between August and November last year, suggested it as a lucrative target as he recalled that the employers had kept cash in a safe at the office.
The duo bought an arsenal of tools for their crime, among them a Bosch electric grinder, wheel attachments for cutting various materials, a crowbar, safety eyewear, helmet, and a broom and dustpan.
At about 8.30pm on Jan 4, they left their hotel and arrived at Pasir Panjang wholesale centre via the MRT an hour later. As shops in the vicinity were still open, they could not execute their original plan of breaking in through the main entrance.
After some time, Ngo, who worked in construction, decided to enter via the rooftop, while Nguyen kept a lookout for him. On the roof, Ngo used a screwdriver to remove a ventilation fan to enter the premises.
Upon finding a large safe box in a room, he first attempted to open it using a screwdriver, before picking up the electric grinder. After two hours of hacking and cutting into the side of the safe, he managed to cut a 20cm-by-20cm hole. Ngo filled four bags with cash and made his way out via the roof. When the bags proved too heavy, he hid one of the bags on the roof and left with Nguyen.
With their loot, the duo bought new phones, air tickets to Vietnam, and even upgraded their accommodation, checking into separate rooms at MBS. The next morning, they went on a shopping spree and splurged on S$11,838 worth of luxury goods. But their joyride was short-lived — at 10.30pm on the same day at the hotel, they were arrested. About S$464,500 was recovered, hidden in various places in their respective rooms.
Seeking a jail term of four-and-a-half to five years for each man, the prosecution charged that the duo were not naive people acting out of desperation. “(They) did not commit an opportunistic crime … This was a well-orchestrated plan, something that we would usually only watch in the movies,” said Deputy Public Prosecutor Sivabalan Thanabal.
Agreeing, District Judge Samuel Chua said they persisted with opening the safe box even when initial attempts failed. The duo’s lack of repentance is evident by how they “celebrated their success” by going on a luxury-goods shopping spree, he added.
Ngo and Nguyen could have been jailed up to 14 years each for the offence.
