Woman on plane sees Chinese national touching her bag in overhead compartment, finds her cash missing

A 30-year-old male Chinese national was arrested for theft onboard an aircraft after money was discovered missing from a passenger's bag.

The police were alerted on Feb 4 at about 1.56pm to the case on board the flight from Jeju Island in South Korea to Singapore.

A woman on the plane had confronted the man she allegedly saw touching her bag in the overhead compartment.

Upon checking the contents of her bag, she discovered that a stack of US dollars was missing and suspected that the man had stolen it.

After the aircraft landed at Changi Airport, officers from Airport Police Division conducted an investigation and with the assistance of the cabin crew, located the missing cash amounting to US$885 in another overheard compartment near where the man was during the incident.

Zhang Youqi was charged in court on Feb 6 for the offence of theft that carries an imprisonment term of up to three years, a fine or both.