SINGAPORE — A 38-year-old auxiliary police officer who robbed a shop in Jurong with a gun after reporting for duty earlier that day was charged in court on Wednesday (14 April).
Mahadi Muhamad Mukhtar, a Singaporean, had drawn his firearm after checking in at work on Monday (12 April) before he was deployed to his location, the Singapore Police Force said in a media release.
He was handed one charge of committing armed robbery at OT Credit along Jurong Gateway Road while possessing an M85 Taurus revolver.
Separately, a 34-year-old woman, Mahadi's friend, was given one charge of dishonestly receiving stolen property after Mahadi allegedly deposited part of the stolen cash into her bank account.
Nur Shana Mohd Taib, a Singaporean, is said to have dishonestly retained $10,000 between 3.30pm and 4.22pm on 12 April.
Both Mahadi and Shana will return to court on 21 April.
Mahadi had been on duty: Police
After reporting for duty earlier that morning, Mahadi allegedly changed out of his uniform and left Aetos premises with his gun without authorisation.
Armed with the gun, Mahadi walked into OT Credit and showed a staff member a note stating, “This is a robbery, don’t shout. I got gun in my pocket. Put all the money in the bag.”
The staff member handed him cash amounting to more than $24,000 and Mahadi fled the scene.
He allegedly reported back to Aetos headquarters to change back into his uniform and take the company van to his deployment location.
He was arrested five hours later after the authorities used footage from police cameras and the shop’s CCTV.
While he is believed to have acted alone during the robbery, the SPF said that investigations showed he deposited part of the stolen cash into Shana's bank account.
He also transferred the stolen cash to a few bank accounts to repay his debts to unlicensed moneylenders.
Cash amounting to some $17,500 has since been recovered. The police have also arrested eight others, aged between 16 and 48, in connection to the case.
For unlawful possession of arms or ammunition in the commission of a scheduled offence, under the Arms Offences Act, Mahadi faces life imprisonment, and not fewer than six strokes of the cane.
For dishonestly receiving stolen property, the woman can be jailed up to five years, or fined, or both.
