Gone are the days where people used to steal money and valuables like handphones and jewellery.
Nowadays, they steal all sorts of odd items like face masks, grocery vouchers, and even bread.
We thought we saw it all, until Nanthakumaran Lokanathan came along.
Man Stole Excavator from Jurong Industrial Area, Tried to Sell It
The excavator in question was rented by the construction firm Ram Brothers Construction & Trading in 2018.
On 28 March that year, the firm left the excavator along a pathway outside 14 Jalan Tukang in Jurong.
After all, there’s been no record of excavator thieves in history, so no one would take it, right?
Wrong.
When the firm checked the location of the excavator the next day using GPS, they found that it had been moved to the premises of used-vehicle-parts dealer Hon Li Hin Enterprise, in Kranji.
It’s unclear how Nanthakumaran stole the excavator, as no one reported seeing an excavator on the KJE that day.
The only evidence the authorities have is footage at the compound which shows Nanthakumaran bringing in the excavator at around 11:30 am on 29 March. He immediately left the premises afterwards.
It appears that three days earlier, Nanthakumaran had contacted the director of Hon Li Hin Enterprise – Mr Jway Hong Chua – about selling the excavator.
As requested, Nanthakumaran would bring the excavator to Mr Jway’s compound, and he would be paid S$5,000 to S$6,000 for the heavy construction vehicle.
The excavator was actually worth about S$31,000.
Unfortunately for the 44-year-old Singaporean, the money never came through.
Fled to Malaysia After Deal Fell Through
See, the Ram Brothers recovered the excavator from Mr Jway on 30 March, before he made payment to Nanthakumaran.
The excavator thief then found out that the police were looking for him. At this point, he had two options:
- Give himself up to the police
- Stand next to the nearest bush and hope that he turns into a chameleon
Instead, he chose to go with the secret option three: flee to Malaysia.
In the end, he was arrested last year on 17 April at the Woodlands Checkpoint.
Jailed 2.5 Years
Today (26 Aug), the 44-year-old was sentenced to two-and-a-half years’ imprisonment, after pleading guilty to a theft charge.
In court, the prosecution pointed out that Nanthakumaran had re-offended soon after his release from corrective training (CT) in January 2018 for attempted theft.
Nanthakumaran had undergone CT for seven years.
CT is given to habitual offenders and carries a minimum five-year stint in jail.
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Featured Image: Maksim Safaniuk/shutterstock.com
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