(CNN) — A man has been charged with robbery after he allegedly stole more than $23,000 from three fellow passengers during a budget flight from Vietnam to Singapore.
The man was named in the court indictment as Zhang Xiuqiang, a 52-year-old Chinese national who was traveling on the flight operated by Singapore Airlines’ budget carrier Scoot. An airline spokeswoman told CNN that it was “aware of the incident” on the December 16 flight from Ho Chi Minh City to Singapore.
“Our cabin crew were alerted by a passenger who reported theft in the cabin and activated the airport police unit,” the spokesperson said. “The affected passengers were removed from the aircraft by airport authorities for further investigation and disembarkation continued as normal for the rest of our passengers.”
According to an indictment read in court and broadcast by Singapore’s public broadcaster News Asia, Zhang allegedly robbed three different passengers. He allegedly removed three million Vietnamese dong (US$123) from one passenger’s bag and 510 million Vietnamese dong (US$20,950) and one US$50 Singapore bill (US$38) from a black messenger bag belonging to another.
He also allegedly took US$1,000 and US$930 in Singapore ($700) from an envelope found in a gray bag belonging to a third passenger.
Cabin theft is a federal crime in many countries, and it’s more common than most travelers think. In October, Hong Kong police warned of a rise in theft on flights after discovering a criminal organization was stealing credit cards from passengers. In 2019, Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific Airways announced a crackdown on petty theft on its aircraft by its cabin crew.
Meanwhile, a man was arrested in Taiwan in September after allegedly stealing money from another passenger’s carry-on luggage on a flight from Tokyo to Taipei.
Zhang was taken into police custody for questioning. On conviction, the punishment is imprisonment for up to three years, fine or both.
Scoot said it could not provide further details about the case, but warned crew and passengers to be vigilant on board.
“Our operations team is trained to be alert and alert authorities to any suspicious behavior on our flights,” he said in the statement.
“We advise our customers to protect their valuables at all times,” he said.
