Just beware.
Subject: Beware of thieves syndicate in Senayan
Dear all,
This happened to Mrs Rebecca Lim, wife of Mr
Alexius Chua (officer of Singapore Embassy).
She is sharing her story so that we can be
more careful.
My bag almost got stolen today while I was
having tea with a friend in Cream & Fudge
Factory in Senayan City (yes, right in the
middle
of the basement with a lot of people and security
all around). It's a group of thieves from a
syndicate based in Pasar Senen
(surprise,surprise). Fifteen minutes after
this happened to me, they hit another womansitting in Coffee Bean just across. But she
was not so lucky. They got her bag.
These thieves are very fast and organised.
They obviously chose to hit ladies who are
sitting in cafes, cos we tend to be more
relaxed and less alert, and to leave our bags
on the chairs/seat. They use middle-aged women
(not particularly well-dressed but not shabby either) to do the job, and they have guys
> waiting
around, so the women will
> pass the bag to the guys after they take it
> and make their getaway.
>
> This is what happened: My friend and I were
> both absorbed in our own stuff; I had
my bag
> open on the seat next to me (yes, my own
> fault). The first woman came up to us and ask
> for the time (but very rudely). My friend
> ignored her but I felt bad so I answered. That
> was 3:45 pm.
>
> My friend later told me while I was looking at
> my watch the woman was looking at our stuff.
> Without even bothering to say thank you, she
> walked off and sat down at a table diagonally
> across from us, and she faced my direction and
>
kept staring at me. At that point I felt it
> was really odd cos she didn't order any food
> or drinks. Of course on hindsight she was the
> scout sent to identify the target (i.e. me)
> and gave the signal to
her team by talking to
> me and facing me when she sat down.
>
> Barely a few minutes after that, I saw out of
> the corner of my eye, my bag being moved from
> the seat next to me. I jumped up, turned
> around and saw a woman seated behind me,
> reaching her hand into my bag. I then shouted
> at her and asked: "Why is your hand in my
> bag?" At that point she panicked cos everyone
> was looking. I grabbed my bag and checked
> that everything was
still intact. She tried to
> get out of it by saying, "No, no I didn't
> touch your bag, maybe the chair moved it."
>
> There was no table behind me. The closest
> table was diagonally behind me, so this woman
>
had pulled her chair a long way to sit right
> behind me. At this point, I saw a third woman
> standing nearby, obviously another accomplice.
> She took out her mobile phone and started
> calling(obviously to ask for instructions or
> to alert someone the job was
> botched).
>
> I asked my friend to observe if they are going
> to buy anything. They pretended to order some
> drinks from the cashier. I then decided to
> alert
the staff and security. The minute I
> stood up and started walking to the counter,
> they ran. The staff told me there was also a
> guy with them. One of the male staff gave
> chase and security was called. I gave the
>
description of the 3 women to security.
>
> At about 4:05, while I was still speaking with
> the security, I saw a woman walking out from
> Coffee Bean, which was just a few feet away
> from where I was, looking very lost and upset.
> I heard her say "my bag is lost." So I went up
> to her and ask her what happened. It was the
> same syndicate and they used the same ruse
> (i.e. asking her for the time to
> distract her).
>
>
Similarly, it was a middle-aged woman who
> approached her. And a guy was standing nearby.
> Based on our descriptions and with the staff
> from Cream and Fudge and Coffee Bean helping
> to look, the security caught the woman who
>
stole the bag from Coffee Bean and the one who
> tried to steal mine, just as they were about
> to board a taxi. The other accomplices were
> not caught.
>
> So then this is the best part of the story. We
> went to the security office. The thieves were
> questioned and beaten right in front of me and
> the lady who lost her bag. The woman who tried
> to steal from me even tried to threaten me
> when I identified her. I
spent two hours there
> writing a long statement etc. cos without my
> collaboration, the lady who lost her bag
> didn't have much of a case. Guess what? The
> case never went to the police. The thieves
> caved and said they would return the
stolen
> bag. I was hopping mad of course. Yes, they
> have to return the bag, but why should they
> get away?
>
> So here's the explanation: If we went to the
> police, the gangsters would show up and pay
> off the police to release the two women (who
> were after all just the sacrificial lambs used
> to do the dirty job and risk getting caught).
> If they are really bad gangsters, then they
> would
also pay the police to release my info
> and the victim's info, and then they
> would come and threaten us.
>
> So according to this so-called reasoning: if
> the thieves return the bag, at least the lady
> got her stuff back. So we should let it
go.
> And no harm would come to anyone, including
> the security guys who caught the thieves.
>
> NO HARM??!!
>
> If we go to the police, we would waste a lot
> of time, and money, and the bag will never
> come back.
>
> Brilliant, isn't it?
>
> SO that's why I am writing this note, and some
> of you already got my sms. After I sent out
> the sms, two friends replied that
this
> happened to them in Plaza Senayan.
>
> When I left the security office, one of the
> thieves had gone off to get the bag for the
> victim. I hope she got her bag back. But what
> it means is this gang is free to do it
> again...maybe
to one of you. And again, and
> again, cos they know for sure nothing is going
> to happen to any of them, even if they get
> caught.
>
> So tell this story to all your friends and
> warn them about this bunch of thugs. It is
> WRONG WRONG WRONG that they should be allowed
> to get away and do it again. But in a place
> where the law and system doesn't work and is
> not going to protect innocent
people, we can
> only protect ourselves and one another.
>
> If anyone knows where to buy mace, please tell
> me. The next time someone tried to steal from
> me or attack me or my kids, I will mace them,
> and use this trick I learnt in my teens:
> always
carry your keys
> in your hand, place the longest key in between
> your index and middle finger, sticking
> upwards. If anyone attacks you, stick it right
> into his/her eyeball. If it's a guy, knee his
> groin and then run and yell
> for help.
>
> I am SO NOT going to be a victim. And neither
> should you.
>
> Best Wishes,
> Amelia
