S. Korean businessman steals laptop on SIA flight
AsiaOne | Fri, Jul 6 2012
A South Korean businessman who stole a laptop onboard a Singapore Airlines flight from Seoul to Singapore was fined $2,000 on Friday.
On June 18, Shin Dongwook, 43, had rummaged through the overhead compartment during the flight and took a laptop belonging to American engineer Armando V. Lopez, 45.
Mr Lopez did not realise his laptop was stolen because Shin had placed a magazine of the same size and weight into his laptop bag. He only found out about the loss at his hotel room at Foch Road in Jalan Besar, reported The Straits Times.
Five days later, Shin was back at Changi Airport. He had arrived here from Bangkok at 1pm and was to board a flight to Seoul about an hour later.
After police conducted a search, the stolen laptop valued at $1,530 was found in his luggage.
Shin was arrested and charged for theft under the Tokyo Convention Act, which governs offences committed in international airspace onboard a Singapore-controlled aircraft.
The Straits Times reported that Shin pleaded guilty on Friday. He had admitted to the police that he had succumbed to greed while keeping his belongings in the overhead compartment during the flight from Seoul.
Shin said through a Korean interpreter that he had acted completely out of character and pleaded for a lenient sentence.
He said he intends to consult a psychiatrist upon returning to South Korea.
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