Police taking Feng Yunlong (left) and Zhang Yongxiang to the scene of an alleged housebreaking at Greenleaf View on Dec 26. - ST
SINGAPORE: The two foreign men who allegedly burgled a landed estate in the Holland Road area on Dec 16 entered a home through an adjacent house that was under construction.
While one of them looted the Greenleaf View home, the other is believed to have kept watch outside.
On Dec 26, police officers took Chinese nationals Zhang Yongxiang, 52, and Feng Yunlong, 38, to the three-storey property with two cars parked inside.
The visit lasted about 20 minutes.
To the right of the house was a construction site of a semi-detached house.
According to a notice board at the site, the building permit was issued in June 2023, and construction is expected to be completed in July 2025.
Zhang arrived in a police car at 10.25am. He was flanked by three police officers and had his arms and ankles cuffed.
They walked towards the victim’s house, and stopped outside the construction site.
A police officer asked Zhang which unit he went to, to which he replied in Mandarin: “The neighbouring one.”
They then walked towards the burgled unit and stopped outside its side gate, before Zhang left in a police car.
About five minutes later, Feng arrived. He led police officers to the construction site, but unlike Zhang, kept his head down the whole time.
He stopped at the entrance of the construction site and gestured to a gap between a blue tarpaulin and wall, telling officers in Mandarin: “We entered by this gap.”
ST understands that Zhang purportedly scaled over into the victim’s house from the third floor of the construction site. Feng is believed to have kept a lookout outside the two units.
According to court documents, Zhang entered the property by pushing open a sliding window.
The duo stole a Cartier Roadster watch valued at S$8,800 and a Casio Edifice watch worth $150.
In front of the burgled unit, police officers took out a map and asked Feng how he left the place. Feng said they walked out of the estate towards the main road, where they boarded a bus.
The house was burgled on Dec 16 around 9pm while the owners were away. The victims reported the incident on Dec 18.
Zhang and Feng have been linked to another report of housebreaking and theft at a property in Zehnder Road in Buona Vista, which was burgled during the day on Dec 18, the police said.
Police officers identified the duo after studying security camera footage from the area.
They traced them to a hotel in Joo Chiat and arrested them at around 6pm on Dec 18.
Besides the watches, the police recovered a branded pouch worth around $5,000, approximately $3,570 in cash and an assortment of jewellery.
The police said both landed properties did not have burglar alarms, although the house in Greenleaf View had security cameras that aided police investigations.
The doors and gates of the homes were locked at the time, the police added.
On Dec 20, Zhang and Feng were each handed one charge of housebreaking to commit theft.
Feng said in court that he wants to plead guilty and will not be engaging a lawyer.
The pair are set to face more charges at their next court mention on Dec 27.
Lorana, 42, a domestic helper who lives in a house two doors from the affected unit, said her employer was not worried even after the recent break-in.
She said they have CCTVs around the property, and police cars have been patrolling every night in their area since the spate of house break-ins in the nearby Bukit Sedap area in August.
“Sometimes at night, I also see police officers with torchlights at the Rail Corridor,” she added.
Another Greenleaf View resident, who is in his 70s and declined to be named, said he was not worried because he is always home. His house also has a burglar alarm.
The police have not ruled out the possibility that Zhang and Feng could be linked to the housebreaking syndicates active in Singapore in mid-2024.
It was previously reported that international criminal syndicates broke into landed properties here, stealing about $3.85 million from at least 10 homes between June and August.
The gangs largely targeted homes in the Rail Corridor and Bukit Timah Road areas. At least one house in Windsor Park Road, in the Upper Thomson area, was also burgled.
For those cases, the police arrested three Chinese nationals and sought information on another 14 who had left Singapore.
Those convicted of housebreaking in order to commit theft can be jailed for up to 10 years and fined. - The Straits Times/ANN
