Tourist jailed for stealing $88,000 on Singapore Airlines flight

Peng Hui, 54, pleaded guilty at a court last Friday to four charges including theft, carrying cash exceeding S$20,000 into Singapore without declaring it, converting some of the stolen cash into casino chips and attempting to remit money to China, Channel News Asia reported.

According to the indictment, he boarded Singapore Airlines’ flight SQ899 on March 5 and found the victim carrying a large sum of cash and leaving his bag in the overhead compartment that had not been locked.

While the victim was sleeping onboard, Peng took the money out of the victim's backpack.When the victim landed at Changi Airport, he passed through the immigration checkpoint and made a declaration for the cash amounts he was carrying, The Straits Times reported.

However, he found the cash in his bag missing and reported the incident to local police. After stealing the victim's money, Peng checked into a hotel and decided to change the currency into Singapore dollars, police said.

Peng was arrested the next day after police tracked down flight records and security camera footage.

At the court, Peng also pleaded for leniency, saying he had tarnished tourism reputation of Singapore.

He said he was over 50 years old, had diabetes and only one kidney.