Chinese man charged with trying to steal from passengers on Cambodia-Singapore flight

Yi Huaichun, 44, returned to court on Friday to face his three charges. He was first charged on December 16 and has been remanded since.

Yi is accused of trying to steal from three passengers while on Cambodia Airways flight KR751 from Phnom Penh on the morning of December 15.

He allegedly tried to steal from a black haversack belonging to a man around 9.40am (local time), before attempting to steal from a black backpack belonging to another person a few minutes later.

Yi is also accused of attempting to commit theft from a black leather bag from a third person less than an hour later.

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Yi’s charges are read with Section 3(2) of the Tokyo Convention Act, which allows Singapore to prosecute a person for an act that is an offence in Singapore, if the suspect committed such an act on board any aircraft that subsequently lands in Singapore with the suspect on board.

When asked to give an indication of his plea on Friday, he said he was not guilty.

He will return to court for a pre-trial conference in January.

If convicted of attempted theft, he faces up to three years’ jail, a fine, or both.

Yi’s case comes after another Chinese national, 52-year-old Zhang Xiuqiang, was charged on Monday with stealing about S$31,000 (US$23,260) from three passengers on a Singapore-bound Scoot flight from Vietnam.