Thais jail Singapore bank 'note' robber for 14 months

[BANGKOK] A Thai court on Tuesday sentenced a Canadian man to 14 months in jail for crimes linked to a rare bank robbery in Singapore where he allegedly used nothing more than a threatening note to steal US$22,000.

According to authorities in Singapore, a city-state with one of the world's lowest crime rates, David Roach strolled into a Standard Chartered bank branch last July, handed the teller a scrap of paper and walked off with the cash.

The 28-year-old then fled to Bangkok where he was arrested a few days later in a hostel.

On Tuesday a Thai criminal court convicted Roach of violating money laundering and customs laws by bringing the loot into the country.

"The suspect confessed to all charges during the investigation process," the judge said.

Roach has been held in a Bangkok jail since his July 2016 arrest.

Bank robberies are extremely rare in Singapore, whose zero-tolerance stance to crime has made it one of Asia's safest cities.

Singapore and Thailand do not have an extradition treaty but share close diplomatic ties.

AFP