Passenger accused of stealing $37k cash from three fellow flyers on one flight

A passenger has appeared in court in Singapore accused of stealing S$31,000 cash from three fellow flyers during a flight from Vietnam to Singapore. Zhang Xiuqiang, 52, from China, faces charges related to a three-hour Scoot flight from Ho Chi Minh City to Changi Airport on December 16. He is accused of taking S$50 and 510m Vietnamese dong from one passenger’s bag, another US$1000 and S$930 from inside an envelope in another piece of luggage, and finally S$600 and 3m Vietnamese dong from a backpack. A spokesperson said the budget airline was aware of the incident: “Our cabin crew was alerted by a passenger to a suspected theft in the cabin and activated the Airport Police Division. “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.” If found guilty, Zhang faces up to three years' jail, reported Channel News Asia. Scoot is the budget carrier of Singapore Airlines. It has a fleet of 57 aircraft and flies to 16 countries and more than 50 airports across Asia, Europe and Oceania. While it does not fly to New Zealand, its destinations include Melbourne, Perth and Sydney in Australia.<br/>