SINGAPORE: Three men came to Singapore and worked together to steal a three-carat diamond ring worth more than S$132,000 (US$97,700) from a pawn shop in Lucky Plaza before leaving the country separately.
Lu Jingnan, a 49-year-old Chinese national, was jailed for two years and eight months (32 months) on Thursday (Nov 16). He pleaded guilty to one count of theft with common intention.
He had arrived in Singapore on Jul 11 with his accomplices, Chinese nationals Luo Yi, 50, and 59-year-old He Yuanlin, on separate flights, intending to steal a diamond ring.
On Jul 12, Lu went to the ValueMax pawn shop at Lucky Plaza in Orchard Road. He asked about watches and diamond rings on display, and a female store executive attended to him.
Lu claimed that he wanted to buy a diamond ring for his wife for her birthday, and claimed to have bought such rings in Hong Kong but faced certification issues.
Lu then told the store executive he would return the next day after checking with his wife on whether the diamond was big enough.
On Jul 16, Lu, He and Luo entered Lucky Plaza together. Lu and Luo entered the ValueMax store one after the other while He loitered outside and looked in through the glass panel.
Lu and Luo did not interact openly with each other inside the shop, and Lu told the same employee that he was back to look at diamond rings.
At the same time, Luo spoke to a male employee about gold jewellery at a different section of the shop.
The female employee retrieved two diamond rings from the glass display to show to Lu but Lu said he was looking for a bigger diamond ring of two to three carats.
He claimed to have a budget of more than S$50,000, and the employee retrieved a 3.01 carat diamond ring and showed it to Lu.
This ring was valued at S$132,479 and was the one eventually stolen.
Lu held the ring and told the store executive that he was interested to buy it. However, the executive had difficulty finding a ring casing that was big enough to fit the ring.
Lu then asked about another smaller diamond, which the woman retrieved and prepared.
At this time, Lu looked towards Luo and nodded his head. Luo then positioned himself such that he blocked the male employee attending to him from stepping out where he could see Lu.
With the female employee distracted with preparing the smaller diamond, Lu placed the 3 carat diamond ring into his left pocket.
He viewed the smaller diamond and told the female employee that he had decided to purchase that instead.
The woman asked a colleague to keep the other diamond rings while she went to the back office to check the price of the smaller diamond.
While she was gone, Lu left the shop with the ring with him, and Luo also exited.
Lu boarded a taxi for Woodlands Checkpoint, while Luo and He left the mall in different directions.
Their actions were captured on closed circuit television camera footage in the mall and at ValueMax.
Lu and He left Singapore by bus via Woodlands Checkpoint that same day, while Luo left via Changi Airport that night.
Lu and He were arrested by Malaysian police in Malaysia on Jul 19, with the stolen ring found in He’s possession.
The pair was extradited to Singapore the next day.
The prosecution sought at least three years’ jail for Lu, noting the high value of the stolen ring and the high degree of premeditation and sophistication.
Each party executed a specific role, and there was a prior visit to scout out the targeted location, said Deputy Public Prosecutor James Chew.
He said Lu was the main person involved in the scouting visit and the actual theft, and had the highest culpability among the three.
There was also a transnational element in the offence, as Lu and his accomplices were foreigners targeting Singapore for criminal activities, said Mr Chew.
For theft in dwelling, Lu could have been jailed for up to seven years and fined.