Singapore:
A 29-year-old Indian national working as an airport auxiliary police officer in Singapore was charged with criminal breach of trust on Friday for keeping a pair of AirPods that a passenger lost on a plane for his use. During his court hearing, Sundar Aravinth, who was unrepresented, said he intended to plead guilty, the Channel News Asia reported.
When asked if he would engage legal counsel, Aravinth said no, adding that he had committed the offence without considering the consequences. He urged the judge to send him back to his home country through a court interpreter, adding that his visa will expire on Mar 31.
He was later told that a special pass would be issued to him.
According to his charge sheet, Aravinth is accused of keeping the wireless earbuds for his use on February 4 at Changi Airport Terminal 2.
The case came to light on Feb 28, when the police were alerted to a suspected case of theft at Terminal 2.
In a press release on Thursday, the police said investigations revealed that the passenger had lost his AirPods on board an aircraft. The item was later found by a cabin crew member. The crew member handed over the AirPods to Aravinth, who was on duty as an airport auxiliary police officer at the time. However, he decided to keep them for his use.
Aravinth provided a photograph of his personal, unbranded earbuds to the lost and found office and handed it over instead of the victim’s AirPods. When the victim was contacted by staff from the lost and found office to verify his lost item, he discovered that the earbuds were not his.
An internal investigation was conducted, and Aravinth was arrested after it was established that he had misappropriated the Airpods. The victim’s AirPods were recovered.
Aravinth’s case will be heard again on April 17, the Channel report said.
As per Singapore’s law, committing a criminal breach of trust carries a maximum penalty of seven years in jail, a fine, or both.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
