Chilean gang of 4 pinched $10k cash, goods at Orchard Rd malls

WHEN Claudio Ivan Cuevas Osorio and his three fellow Chilean friends came to Singapore last month, they hit the malls in Orchard Road almost every day.

But shopping was not on their agenda – at least not the way most people see it.

Over a span of one week, the four men weaved in and out of boutiques and food courts, helping themselves to anything and everything from cellphones to laptops and wallets belonging to shoppers.

In all, they stole more than $10,000 worth of cash and goods before they were arrested by police near their budget hotel in Geylang.

On Wednesday, Osorio, 38, and his accomplices – Cristian Jerardo Pina Lemunir, 29, Cristian Eduardo Criado Ordonez, 34, and Jean Pierre Silva Rebolledo, 31 – were each jailed for one year for theft.

The men belong to a group of light-fingered tourists who come here specifically to steal.

These syndicates do not originate from a particular region, but in recent months, some have made headlines for coming from faraway places like South America.

Last month, Colombian Rafael Alexander Gomez Bermundez, 33, and his American accomplice Linda Tatiana Lopez, 21, were arrested after stealing a $15,000, 6.32-carat diamond bracelet from SK Jewellery at Bugis Junction Towers.

ORIGINAL SOURCE

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