Six foreign students carried out a scheme to shoplift clothes from Uniqlo in Singapore by removing the clothes' price tags and radio-frequency identification (RFID) chips before heading to self-checkout counters.
They would then purchase a cheap tote bag to give the impression that they were paying for the clothes, and would shove the clothes inside the tote bag and walk out.
They were arrested on Oct. 30, when a security guard caught them behaving suspiciously.
When asked to present a proof of payment, they lied and walked away, prompting a sales assistant to lodge a police report.
Four of the accused were sentenced to jail for between 20 and 65 days on Wednesday (Nov. 22), reported CNA and The Straits Times.
They were:
- Shihora Ridham Mukeshbhai, 20, was sentenced to 65 days' jail
- Hun Smit Ashokbhai, 21, was sentenced to 45 days' jail
- Kuvadiya Milan Ghansyambhai, 26, was sentenced to 40 days' jail
- Chuhan Ruchi Sanjaykumar, 25, was sentenced to 50 days' jail
They faced charges related to group theft or attempted theft with common intention.
Ridham pleaded guilty to one count of group theft and another count of attempting to commit a similar crime.
The others admitted to one count of group theft or attempted theft each.
Two of the co-accused, Brahmbhatt Komal Chetankumar and Christian Arpita Arvindbhai, did not go through with their guilty pleas on Thursday and will return to court for pre-trial conferences later this month.
What happened
The four individuals were part of a group of six Indian nationals who were on study passes to study in various schools in Singapore.
The group shared an apartment together.
Three others were also involved in the scheme but left the country before investigations started.
They were identified as Bhavik, 24, Vishal, 23, and Darshan, 22, in court documents.
Bhavik and Vishal were the alleged masterminds behind the scheme, and roped the rest into executing the plan with them.
Their modus operandi would include some of the group picking the specific clothes to steal.
Other group members would remove the price tags on the clothes which contained RFID chips.
They would them make their way to the payment machine, and put their clothes in.
However, the machine would not be able to detect the clothes without price tags on them.
They would then shove the clothes into their bags and leave the store without setting off the security alarm.
First incident
On Oct. 12, the six of them, along with three other people, went to the Uniqlo store at Orchard Central.
They chose various clothes and removed their price tags before putting them into their shopping baskets.
Some of them would then take the items to the self-checkout counter.
They would then purchase tote bags that cost S$3.90 each to give the impression that they were paying for the goods they stole.
The group left the store with 64 pieces of stolen apparel which amounted to S$1,788.
Second incident
Several days later on Oct. 16, another group of six returned to the same store with the intent of stealing clothes again.
This time, a security guard noticed their shifty behaviour as two of them hurriedly packed clothes into the tote bags.
When the security guard asked for a proof of payment, one of them lied, saying that the receipt was with a friend elsewhere and promptly walked away.
The other claimed that he had spotted a friend and walked away quickly, leaving behind the clothes in the tote bag at the self-checkout counter.
A sales assistant proceeded to lodge an online police report that day about the attempted theft.
After conducting an extensive review of the closed-circuit television footage, the police identified the accused and arrested them on Oct. 30.
Investigations revealed that the second group tried to steal 72 pieces of clothing in total, which amounted to S$2,271.
Threatened with eviction
The four shoplifters attended court hearings via video-link, and indicated that Bhavik was the one who urged them to steal.
Milan and Hun Smit claimed that he threatened that if they did not follow his instructions, he would increase their room rental or evict them.
Faced with the possibility of homelessness, they claimed that they had no choice but to commit the crime.
Arpita and Komal also blamed Bhavik, stating that they did not have any intention to steal.
Top photo via Google Maps