Two years and nearly four months after it happened, the Standard Chartered bank robbery that took place in July 2016 at its Holland Village is getting closer to closure.

Extradition ordered

According to a joint statement by the Ministry of Home Affairs and Attorney-General's Chambers shared with Mothership, the UK Secretary of State has ordered alleged bank robber David James Roach's extradition to Singapore.

Roach has until Nov. 8 to appeal against his extradition.

Here's their short statement:

"The UK Secretary of State has ordered the extradition of David James Roach, the suspect in the Standard Chartered Bank robbery, to Singapore.

Roach has until 8 November 2018 to apply to the UK High Court for permission to appeal against this decision.

The Singapore Authorities are working closely with the UK authorities on the next steps in this matter."

The case

The robbery, which took place on Jul. 7, 2016 saw the Canadian allegedly making off with S$30,000 cash, by simply writing the following in a note:

“This is a robbery, give me money, don’t call the police, I have a weapon.”

It was not known what the weapon that he allegedly wielded was, or if he even possessed one at all.

Camera footage and reports suggest that he calmly left the bank, and was then spotted going into a Baker and Cook nearby at Chip Bee Gardens for some post-robbery refreshments.

Arrested & jailed in Thailand, then held in the UK

Later that afternoon, he had boarded a flight to Thailand, where he was arrested at a backpackers’ hostel for money laundering and violations of currency regulations.

He was charged and convicted with carrying more than US$20,000 in cash without declaring it to customs.

14 months’ jail time later, he was sent onward home to Canada in Jan. 11, 2018 (despite a request from Singapore to send him over here, which they were able to ignore because we don't have an extradition treaty with Thailand), before getting arrested en route there in United Kindom.

This was done pursuant to a request for extradition from Singapore, as we thankfully do have an extradition treaty with the UK.

Guess Roach will finally be coming back to Singapore, and will hopefully finally be facing trial.

Top photo: file

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