Bank robbery suspect arrested with assistance from Royal Thai Police

The Singapore Police Force has just announced that the the suspect involved in the case of robbery at the Standard Chartered Bank branch along Holland Avenue on July 7, 2016 has been arrested by the Royal Thai Police (RTP).

At 11.25am on July 7, the suspect robbed $30,000 from a bank branch of Standard Chartered Bank at Holland Village, making it the first Singapore bank robbery in 8 years since the last incident in 2008.

The robbery was reported to have happened only within the span of a few minutes. The suspect walked toward the teller then handed her a note. She took the money and handed him $30,000.

Police were informed of the case of robbery at the said branch by the bank after the suspect had left the scene.

Upon receipt of the report, officers from Clementi Division, the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), the Public Transport Security Command (TransCom) and the Police Intelligence Department (PID) responded immediately and conducted investigations and pursued all available leads.

Preliminary investigations by the Police revealed that the suspect had made off with about $30,000 in cash and that no weapon was used during the commission of the crime.

The Police through the investigations managed to establish the identity of the suspect on the same day but he had already left Singapore for Bangkok, shortly after the crime was reported.

The Police have been in communication with the RTP, and obtained their assistance in locating and arresting the suspect. The Police did not release further details beyond the initial police statements for operational reasons to ensure the arrest operation was not jeopardised.

SPF stated that the RTP located the suspect and arrested him in Bangkok on July 10, 2016. The Singapore authorities are currently engaging RTP in Thailand to see whether the suspect can be released into the Singapore's custody.