Three Colombians get six months' jail each for stealing pearls
By Kimberly Spykerman | Posted: 30 August 2012 1621 hrs
SINGAPORE: Three Colombians were on Thursday sentenced to six months' jail each for stealing pearls worth some S$20,000 from a jewellery exhibition at Marina Bay Sands in July 2012.
48-year-old Blanca Doris Parra Camacho, 46-year-old Maria Cristina Cordoba Rodriguez, and 36-year-old Gomez Martinez Jose Ricardo were caught on CCTV as they executed the theft.
The trio had distracted the owners of the jewellery who were waiting for a taxi, before carting off one of the luggage bags containing the pearls.
The owners, who took part in the jewellery exhibition, had been loading their exhibits into the taxi when they realised one of the bags was missing.
The trio were later picked up by the police. The bag containing the stolen pearls was also recovered.
The two women had been promised a reward by a fourth man, Colombian national Omar Giowany Rodriguez Aponte, 36. They had both received US$400 from him before committing the offence. The four had also agreed to split the loot.
Aponte, believed to be the mastermind, is still at large.
In their earlier submissions, the prosecution had asked for a custodial sentence of six months' jail to be imposed on the trio as they had committed the offence within a week of arriving in Singapore.
The prosecution added that the theft had clearly required a fair amount of planning.
-CNA/ac/ck
