THAIS CHARGED STANDARD CHARTERED BANK ROBBER WITH MONEY LAUNDERING

Dear A.S.S. Editor

Remember the Canadian man who robbed the Standard Chartered bank in Holland Village in July last year? Apparently, he was still spending his time in a Thailand jail all this past year, but finally, the Thais have charged him for a crime.

The man, David Roach, 28, was charged by the Thai authorities of violating money laundering and customs laws by bringing the loot from his daring robbery into the country. The Thai courts sentenced him to 14 months in jail. He had used just a threatening note to walk away from the Standard Chartered bank branch with US$22,0000. This was a rare case of a bank robbery in Singapore, whose zero-tolerance stance to crime has made it one of Asia’s safest cities.

Roach had not been extradited to Singapore to face charges over the bank robberies as Singapore and Thailand share no extradition treaty, although they have close diplomatic ties. It remains to be seen if Roach will face the charges in Singapore after he has served his prison sentence.

Elgin Ho

A.S.S. Contributor