Jobless man pawns roommates Rolex watch for an urgent trip abroad

SINGAPORE: A 45-year-old unemployed man decided to steal his roommate’s Rolex watch and pawn it to travel abroad. The suspect, who was then involved in multiple fraud cases, pleaded guilty to three charges, including cheating and theft, and was sentenced to 10 months’ imprisonment. Furthermore, seven more charges will be taken into consideration by the judge when sentencing. 

According to the case details, the 71-year-old victim, who then lived with the suspect, returned home and discovered that his Rolex watch, which he had left in the drawer next to his bed, was missing. He asked his roommates about it, including the suspect, and they all denied knowing anything about what happened. With this, the victim called the police. 

The victim estimated that the watch cost at least $2,500, but he could not remember the original purchase price since it was bought more than 30 years ago. He also told the police that he had pawned the watch at a pawn shop for $2,500 many years ago and redeemed it for the same amount and obtained the watch’s serial number. 

Investigations revealed that the suspect brought a Rolex watch with the same serial number to a pawn shop and pawned it for $900. The suspect eventually admitted that he stole the watch because he needed money to travel to Indonesia as soon as possible, and he asked for the lowest price from the pawnshop. Afterwards, the suspect entrusted the pawn ticket to a friend, and the watch has not been retrieved. 

The prosecution stated that the suspect had a long criminal record and was on parole when he committed the crime and requested a more severe sentence. The judge sentenced him to 10 months in prison, with an additional 11 days because he committed another crime during his parole period. 

In similar news about theft, there was a recent news report where a woman complained to her landlord that three pieces of her jewellery, amounting to more than $6,000, had been stolen. 

Case investigations revealed that her roommate stole these pieces and pawned them. The roommate then denied the accusations and even declared that the jewellery belonged to his deceased ex-girlfriend. 

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