SINGAPORE: A 30-year-old man who allegedly stole a passenger's wallet onboard a flight to Singapore and used her debit card at Changi Airport was charged in court with theft and cheating on Thursday (Mar 27).

According to his charge sheets, Dimas Setiawan Joko allegedly stole a wallet while onboard Singapore Airlines flight SQ242 from Sydney to Singapore on Mar 15 at about 8.10pm.

The wallet, which belonged to a fellow passenger, contained US$122 (S$163), 427,000 Indonesian rupiah (S$34) and a debit card, among other items.

Dimas later used the victim's debit card to purchase a S$2 bottle of water at a food outlet in the departure transit area of Changi Airport Terminal 2 in the early hours of Mar 16.

He also used the card to purchase about S$90 worth of chocolates at a Cocoa Tree outlet at the airport. This included several boxes of "Merlion" chocolates, charge sheets showed. 

The police said in a news release on Wednesday that the victim had kept her wallet inside her handbag and stored it in the overhead compartment during the flight.

The victim subsequently received notifications of these unauthorised transactions on her banking app and she immediately called the police for assistance. 

Through ground enquiries and with the aid of CCTV footage, airport police officers were able to establish Dimas’ identity and arrested him within an hour of the report. 

Further investigations revealed that both Dimas and the victim are known to each other and had used the same overheard compartment to store their belongings during the flight. 

Appearing in court on Thursday, the Indonesian said he intended to plead guilty and would not be engaging a lawyer. 

His case will be heard again on Apr 10.