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Family of 3 on holiday in Singapore stole chocolates, cosmetics and other items worth more than $4,000

File photo
File photo

SINGAPORE — While a family of three from India were on holiday in Singapore to celebrate the birthday of one of them, they decided to also go on a shoplifting spree.

The trio - a man, his mother and aunt - stole items including $4,201.60 worth of chocolates and clothes from retail chain Marks & Spencer and cosmetics from apparel store H&M over the five days that they were in Singapore.

Abhishek Bipin Bhanushali, 24, was jailed for two weeks while his mother Darshana Bipin Bhanushali, 43, was fined $4,000, and his aunt, Narula Bhakti Raman, 54, was fined $5,000.

Abhishek, who is a maritime naval academy student in Mumbai, pleaded guilty to two counts of shop theft with common intention, with two counts of a similar nature taken into consideration.

His mother, a nurse, admitted to one count of theft while his aunt, a housewife, pleaded guilty to one count of theft, with another count taken into consideration for sentencing.

The trio arrived in Singapore on 1 April to celebrate Abhishek’s birthday.

They shoplifted merchandise from shopping malls at Vivocity, the Marina Bay Sands and ION Orchard.

On 4 April, they entered H&M at ION Orchard at about 9.30pm and began stuffing cosmetics into a handbag when no one was looking.

The next day, the trio entered the Marks & Spencers shop at Vivocity where they hid chocolates in a bag.

The sales manager made a police report later. Court documents did not reveal how she came to be aware of the theft.

On 6 April, the police raided the hotel room in Dunlop Street where the trio were staying and found more than 50 chocolate items, including boxes and packets of Swiss, Belgian, and Italian chocolate, and clothing worth $650.10. The chocolate items were worth around $400.

The police also found more than 200 cosmetics and accessories worth $3,551.50, including lip colour, nail polish, mascara and liquid foundation products. The trio were placed under arrest.

In mitigation, Amarjit Singh, lawyer for the trio, said his clients had no prior conviction, cooperated with the authorities and were remorseful for their actions.

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