Jail for syndicate member who stole luxury watches, cash from SIA business class passenger
David Sun
The Straits Times
Dec 26, 2025
A syndicate member who stole from a business class passenger on a Singapore Airlines flight was sentenced to 20 months' jail on Dec 23.
Liu Ming, 26, a Chinese national, was convicted of one count of theft.
He had taken a flight which departed from Dubai on Aug 7 and landed in Singapore on Aug 8.
Financed by a criminal organisation, he sat in business class.
At around 2am Singapore time on Aug 8, when the cabin lights were dimmed, Liu left his seat and walked five rows forward to open a sleeping passenger's overhead compartment.
He took the man's bag, containing more than $100,000 worth of cash and items, and carried it back to his seat.
The bag contained an Audemars Piguet watch worth more than $51,000, a Chopard watch worth more than $35,000, and US$8,200 (S$10,500) in cash.
The victim's wife woke up and saw the theft. She confronted Liu before informing the cabin crew.
Liu claimed he had made a mistake and was confused.
He was arrested when the plane landed in Singapore, and he was uncooperative during investigations.
It was later found he had taken the flight specifically to steal valuable items from business class passengers, and it was the ploy of a syndicate.
For theft, he could have been jailed for up to three years and fined.
Such syndicates have been known to target victims mid-flight on planes flying to or from Singapore, stealing cash and valuables from bags placed in the overhead compartments. Many are known to operate in pairs.
Theft on planes is a worsening global problem, with the International Air Transport Association raising concerns earlier in 2025 after members indicated a spike in in-flight theft cases. Many of the affected routes were in Asia.
Hong Kong has been one of the worst hit, with 169 cases involving HK$4.32 million (S$714,000) in valuables recorded in the first 10 months of 2024 – a 75 per cent increase from the same period the previous year.
In June, checks by The Straits Times showed that four out of five people charged in 2025 over cabin theft were Chinese nationals.
In one of the worst cases of theft on a plane, a Chinese national stole $120,000 in cash from a fellow passenger on an SIA flight and was sentenced to 30 months' jail on June 21, 2024.
The man had pleaded guilty to four charges, including one for theft and one for bringing into Singapore cash over the legal limit without a declaration.
The victim was a Singaporean jeweller who had gone to Bangkok and Hong Kong for two trade fairs.
On July 30, another Chinese national was jailed for 10 months for stealing a passenger's debit cards and cash on board a Scoot flight to Singapore.
Both the prosecution and judge noted the increasing prevalence of such offences.
