Chinese national, 22, steals items worth S$38,000 from RWS casino patron, gets 6 months' jail

When a 22-year-old Chinese national saw a fellow punter taking out a stack of cash from his clutch bag at Resorts World Sentosa (RWS) casino in November 2025, he saw an opportunity.

Meng Lingqi was looking to recoup the money he had lost gambling at the casino.

While the victim, an Indonesian man, was not paying close attention to his clutch bag, Meng took it, hid it in his jacket, and left the casino hastily to avoid being caught.

However, before he could board his flight back to Hong Kong that night, Meng was arrested at Changi Airport.

For his crime, Meng was handed two theft charges, reported Shin Min Daily News.

He was sentenced to six months' jail after pleading guilty to one of the charges on Dec. 29.

The other theft charge was taken into consideration for his sentencing.

What happened

According to court documents seen by Mothership, Meng was in Singapore on a 30-day special pass, which would expire on Dec. 22, 2025.

Investigations revealed that the victim began gambling at the roulette table at the RWS casino at around 3:46pm on Nov. 22.

While making his bets and placing his chips on the table, the victim placed his black Louis Vuitton clutch bag behind him on his seat.

At the same time, Meng, who was wearing a green baseball jacket, was standing near the victim, observing the game with his arms folded.

At around 3:47pm, the victim turned around to retrieve his clutch bag and removed a stack of cash to count it.

In response, Meng moved closer to the victim and walked behind him as the victim placed the stack of cash back into his clutch bag,

Thereafter, Meng continued positioning himself near the victim at the table, surveilling the immediate surroundings while observing the game.

Crime caught on CCTV camera

At around 4:17pm, the victim stood up from his seat, leaving his clutch bag behind.

Two minutes later, Meng moved closer to the victim and walked behind him as the victim stood with his clutch bag on the seat.

After briefly surveying the surroundings, Meng swiftly approached the victim's seat at 4:20pm and took the clutch bag.

He then left the table immediately and hurried towards the casino's exit, carrying the clutch bag with both arms before hiding it within his jacket.

The clutch bag, valued at S$1,500, contained over S$11,500 in cash, S$25,000 in Marina Bay Sands (MBS) casino cashout vouchers, the victim's passport, among other items.

Arrested before boarding flight

Meng exited the casino at around 4:23pm and his actions were captured by the casino's surveillance cameras.

At around 5:17pm, the casino's security manager notified the police about Meng's deeds, cautioning that he might leave Singapore.

Later that night, Meng was catching his flight to Hong Kong at Changi Airport Terminal 4 at around 8:40pm when he was arrested at the departure hall.

The authorities eventually recovered the clutch bag, MBS casino cashout vouchers, and cash in Indonesian rupiah from Meng.

However, the victim's cash in Singapore dollars, wallet, bank cards, his Indonesian identification card, and his passport were not recovered.

Court documents did not reveal the reason why the items were unrecovered.

No restitution made

Following Meng's arrest at Changi Airport on Nov. 22, he was remanded at the Police Cantonment Complex.

During his interview with the police at around 11:30pm on the same day, Meng admitted that he had dishonestly taken the victim's clutch bag and left the casino immediately to avoid being caught.

As of Dec. 10, he had not made any restitution to the victim.

Top image via Google Maps