Chinese national, 28, asked to borrow S$50,000 from friend, 37, grabs cash at S'pore hotel & runs, given 8 months’ jail

A 28-year-old male Chinese national was sentenced to eight months’ jail after pretending to borrow S$50,000 from his 37-year-old friend, also a male Chinese national, before robbing the cash from him.

Zhao Ziqi faced one charge of theft.

He pleaded guilty and was sentenced on Sep. 8.

Friends

In court documents seen by Mothership, Zhao arrived in Singapore on Dec. 26, 2025.

He frequented the Marina Bay Sands Casino and met the victim on one occasion.

They became friends and exchanged contact information via WeChat.

Borrow money

On Jan. 7, 2026 at about 10:40pm, Zhao contacted the victim and asked to borrow S$50,000.

Zhao claimed to have sustained gambling losses and required fresh capital.

The victim agreed and arranged to meet Zhao at Orchard Hotel, where Zhao stayed.

At the time, the victim was in the casino and withdrew S$50,000 in cash from his gambling account.

He then booked a private-hire vehicle and headed to the hotel.

Rob

After arriving at the hotel, Zhao brought the victim up to his hotel room.

Zhao’s cousin, whose identity was not disclosed in court documents, was in the hotel room.

He left shortly after the victim arrived.

At about 11:30pm, the victim took S$50,000 in cash out of a bag he was carrying and placed it on the table.

Zhao grabbed the S$50,000 from the victim and ran out of the hotel room to the lift lobby, where his cousin was waiting.

The victim chased Zhao and a scuffle broke out.

Zhao threw part of the cash onto the ground to distract the victim and allow his cousin to grab some of it and escape.

The victim retrieved S$27,500 while Zhao and his cousin escaped with S$22,500.

At about 11:49pm, the police were alerted to the incident.

Surveillance footage captured the incident.

Arrest

After the incident, Zhao and his cousin went separate ways and agreed to meet at Changi Airport at a later date to depart Singapore.

On Jan. 8, sometime before 4:45am, Zhao booked plane tickets to China for himself and his cousin.

The pair met to board their flight.

However, both of them were arrested at Changi Airport at about 4.45am.

S$8,454 in cash was seized from them.

Zhao has been remanded since his arrest.

His cousin was charged in the Youth Court, but the charge was eventually withdrawn.

Evade detection

The prosecution sought eight months’ jail for Zhao.

They argued that Zhao made “concerted attempts to evade detection and to escape Singapore” after he committed the offence.

“Although the sum the accused is charged with is only S$22,500, the court is entitled to consider the fact that the accused attempted to steal the full S$50,000 that he had asked the victim to loan him,” the prosecution said.