Jail for man who flew to Singapore for one day to pick up housebreaking loot

SINGAPORE: A 28-year-old man who was found with almost S$500,000 (US$370,000) worth of stolen luxury goods and cash was jailed for seven months on Monday (Dec 16).

Wu Jinxing, a Chinese national, pleaded guilty to a single charge of possessing the benefits of criminal conduct by another individual, Wu Jianxin.

Both men are linked to foreign syndicates that are believed to be behind a spate of burglaries in landed estates between June and August.

The court heard that before the offences, Wu Jinxing was earning 200 yuan (US$27) a day as a food delivery man in Shenzhen. He had known Wu Jianxin for 12 years.

Sometime in July, Wu Jianxin, 30, and another man, Huang Ziqian, 35, broke into a house and stole items that they hid at the Rail Corridor near Bukit Sedap Road.

On Jul 27 at 2.30am, Wu Jianxin offered Wu Jinxing 30,000 yuan to fly to Singapore immediately for a one-day trip, to collect a handbag and a watch on his behalf.

Wu Jianxin instructed him to book a return flight to Hong Kong instead of Shenzhen, and also promised to pay his travel expenses.

Wu Jinxing knew he was being offered a significant amount of money because the trip involved illegal activity, Deputy Public Prosecutor Janessa Phua said.

He agreed and booked a flight to Singapore, landing at about noon that same day, and followed Wu Jianxin's instructions to take a taxi to Chinatown.

At about 4pm, also following instructions, he bought a backpack, then took the train to Buona Vista MRT station and walked down a bicycle route on the Rail Corridor.

With Wu Jianxin giving instructions over a video call, Wu Jinxing climbed up a slope covered with thick vegetation and searched for a spot under a tree.

He found an orange Hermes Birkin bag worth about S$45,000 hidden beneath some pipes and leaves. Inside the bag were three luxury watches, with the most valuable being worth about S$165,000, and cash in various currencies.

He took the loot and checked into a hotel in Geylang around 7pm. With Wu Jianxin supervising him over a video call, he emptied the contents of the bag onto the bed.

Wu Jinxing suspected that the luxury items and cash were stolen or linked to illegal activities like underground gambling, money exchange or moneylending, Ms Phua said.

Around 8pm, again under Wu Jianxin's instructions, he took a taxi to a supermarket located near 17 and 19 Bukit Sedap Road, near Holland Road, and walked to a perimeter wall behind.

The police had previously found 12 Hermes bags, jewellery and cash that Wu Jianxin and Huang had stolen from other houses and hidden in the bushes behind.

They were waiting for the perpetrators to return and retrieve the loot.

When Wu Jinxing arrived at the perimeter wall, he was arrested. He was brought back to the hotel room, where police discovered the loot in the orange Birkin bag.

Wu Jianxin and Huang remain at large, the prosecutor said.

Ms Phua sought eight to nine months' jail for Wu Jinxing, pointing out that a substantial amount of criminal proceeds was involved.

His offences also facilitated the criminal activities of a transnational syndicate, which were factors that called for a heavier sentence, she argued.

Ms Phua also said that the criminal enterprise was sophisticated, involving instructing runners like Wu Jinxing to retrieve buried loot in order to avoid detection.

The prosecution also took into account that Wu Jinxing was laundering another person's criminal proceeds, and not his own, which made him less culpable.

The punishment for having benefited from criminal conduct is a jail term of up to 10 years, a fine of up to S$500,000 or both.