Swindlers Pulled Off Frankfurt-Bound Flight After Bold Currency Exchange Heist

In a plot right out of an action thriller, two men who attempted to flee Singapore with $75,000 in stolen cash were pulled off a Frankfurt-bound flight moments before it was set to take off for Germany.

Thrilling Bust: Frankfurt-Bound Plane Ordered To Return To Gate To Offload Currency Exchange Criminals

Let’s review what happened because part of me still cannot understand how this heist even occurred in the first place:

• Between April 18-21, 2023, two men made four visits to a currency exchange office on Coleman Street in Singapore, engaging in currency exchange without any fraud or deceit
• Now familiar with the shop and proprietor and having gained a degree of trust, on April 21st the two men asked for 75,000USD in exchange for the equivalent in SGD
• At 4:30pm, the two men arrived a the currency exchange and asked to “inspect” the 75,000USD
• The men packed the money into plastic bags and then placed it in a briefcase
• But when handing back the briefcase to the proprietor, it would not fit through the gap at the counter (used, like a bank with bulletproof glass, for protection)
• So the men allegedly placed the money into a smaller leather black bag so it would fit through the gap
  • This was the con – the money didn’t really go into the smaller black bag
• After handing back the bag, the men promised they would return shortly
• An hour passed and they did not show, prompting the currency exchange to look more closely at the black leather bag
• Inside the black leather bag was small US notes sandwiched by $100 notes and fake Euro notes
• Police were notified and through the use of CCTV (Singapore is like a prison in that respect), the men were tracked within eight hours…
• …To Changi Airport (SIN), where they were onboard a flight to Frankfurt that had just pushed back
• Police intervened just in time, ordering the plane to return to the gate and pulling the men off the fligh
• The stolen US currency was found on the men, who were arrested
• Both men face up to seven years in prison and a fine

I’ve been swindled many times over, so don’t confuse my skepticism with any sort of smugness. But wouldn’t you want to check the bag right away to ensure the money was there? Were these guys so swift that the proprietors really did not notice? Or did they think that with so many cameras in their shop, no one would be stupid enough to try something?

CONCLUSION

Crime doesn’t pay, especially in Singapore. From the thriving city state that still performs public caning and executes drug dealers, police sprang into action when a currency exchange bureau reported $75,000 had been stolen. Tracing the suspects through CCTV led to a last-minute phone call at Changi Airport to order a Frankfurt-bound plane to return to the gate so that the two men, still unidentified, could be arrested. Well done Singapore Police Force!

(images: Singapore Police Force // H/T: SINJim)