Gang that used young girl in Hong Kong diamond heist arrested on mainland China
HK$36m necklace was grabbed from Tsim Sha Tsui store by 12-year-old girl as staff were distracted by adult accomplices
PUBLISHED : Monday, 28 March, 2016, 10:56pm
UPDATED : Monday, 28 March, 2016, 11:25pm
Clifford Lo
A mainland gang that roped in a young girl to steal a HK$36 million diamond necklace from a high-end jewellery store in Hong Kong has been busted.
At least four core gang members were picked up by public security officers on the mainland late last year and police there were still investigating whether the gang was linked to similar heists across Asia, sources with knowledge of the investigation said.
The girl who carried out the theft under the noses of store staff about 14 months ago has been identified as a 12-year-old from the mainland, one source has revealed.
“As she is underage, she is not under arrest under the mainland judiciary system,” he added.
It is understood the stolen necklace – embedded with more than 40 diamonds totalling 117 carats – has not been recovered.
“But one or two loose diamonds, believed to have been removed from the necklace, were found during the arrests,” the source said.
He added that the gangsters would stand trial on the mainland because they were linked to other cases and broke mainland laws.
The arrests were made after Hong Kong police pored over more than 1,000 CCTV recordings to identify the culprits before seeking help from the mainland authorities with video images of the suspects.
The cabinet in the Emperor Jewellery shop where the stolen necklace had been on display. Photo: SCMP Pictures
A five-member gang, including the girl, snatched the most expensive diamond necklace in the Emperor Jewellery shop in the 1881 Heritage mall in Tsim Sha Tsui on January 23 last year.
The girl walked into the store with a man and two women. The three adults kept staff busy on one side of the store while the girl picked up a master key behind the counter and snatched the necklace from a display cabinet on the other side.
A man believed to be a gang member met the girl after she walked out of the shop with the necklace in her jacket pocket.
Staff noticed the necklace was missing shortly after the three adults left the shop without buying anything.
Investigations showed the five-member gang left for Shenzhen in two groups through the Lo Wu and Lok Ma Chau immigration control points just hours after the heist, according to the sources.
The sources declined to reveal whether the suspects caught by mainland police included the four adults who came to Hong Kong to carry out the heist.
Two heists employing similar tactics took place in Malaysia and Singapore in 2014.
The Kuala Lumpur case involved a girl of between eight and 10 who made off with a 5.2 million ringgit (HK$12.1 million) ring from a shop at a Bukit Bintang shopping centre in January.
In the Singapore heist on Christmas Day, a girl of around 10 stole a high-value diamond ornament from a shop at the Marina Bay Sands complex.
She was accompanied by a couple who similarly diverted the shop staff’s attention.
