SINGAPORE: Three Columbians were on Thursday
sentenced to six months' jail each for stealing pearls worth
S$22,000 from a jewellery exhibition at Marina Bay Sands in July
2012.
48-year-old Blanca Doris Parra Camacho, 46-year-old Maria Cristina
Cordoba Rodriguez, and 36-year-old Gomez Martinez Jose Ricardo were
caught on CCTV as they executed the theft.
The trio had distracted the owners of the jewellery who were
waiting for a taxi, before carting off one of the luggage bags
containing the pearls.
The owners, who took part in the jewellery exhibition, had been
loading their exhibits into the taxi when they realised one of the
bags was missing.
The trio were later picked up the police. The bag containing the
stolen pearls was also recovered.
In their earlier submissions, the prosecution had asked for a
custodial sentence of six months' jail to be imposed on the trio as
they had committed the offence within a week of arriving in
Singapore.
The prosecution added that the theft had clearly required a fair
amount of planning.
-CNA/ac
