Traveling can be stressful, and it now appears there is another thing to worry about. You can add having money stolen while flying to your travel anxiety list. A Chinese man was charged with three counts of theft for allegedly stealing $23,000 from his fellow passengers while in the air on a Scoot airlines flight from Vietnam to Singapore.
Zhang Xiuqiang, 52, was reportedly caught by a fellow passenger who alerted a flight attendant. He allegedly managed to steal from three people before he was caught. If convicted, he could face three years in prison and a fine.
Xiuqiang allegedly stole 3 million Vietnamese dong ($123) from the first victim. The second victim had 510 million Vietnamese dong and 50 Singapore dollars taken ($20,950). The third person said they had $1,000 and 930 Singapore dollars stolen.
A representative from Scoot spoke about the incident with CNN. “Our cabin crew was alerted by a passenger to a suspected theft in the cabin and activated the Airport Police Division,” they explained. “The involved passengers were escorted off the aircraft by airport authorities for further investigation, and disembarkation proceeded as usual for the rest of our passengers.”
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Xiuqiang appeared in court on December 18, 2023, where he was officially charged with three counts of theft. He was also read the Tokyo Convention Act. This international treaty deals with crimes perpetrated on international flights that impact other passengers' safety.
Scoot is a budget airline and a subsidiary of Singapore Airlines. It is similar to Spirit Airlines in the United States.
Watch this video to see one man’s honest review of flying with Scoot.
