Jun 7, 2010
Drop-cash ruse: $20,000 stolen
A SINGAPORE businessman has lost $20,000 for having been too trusting of a pair of strangers. Last Friday, at about 11.30am, the 55-year-old was in his parked car after having been to a bank near Queen Street to withdraw money to pay his employees' wages. Just as he was about to drive off, a man and a woman approached him, telling him that he had dropped some cash behind his car. Believing them, he got out of the car, leaving the pouch with the money in the glove compartment.
He went to the rear of his car where some $2 notes lay on the ground. He bent down to pick them up. When he returned to the driver's seat, the couple were gone - and so was the pouch with the money. A passer-by said he saw the couple opening the car door and taking a bag out of it. They walked towards Bugis MRT station after that. The man appeared to be in his 40s and his companion, in her late 30s. They are believed to be Middle Eastern.
Anyone with information can call the police hotline on 1800-255-0000.