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Changi Airport technician illegally enters transit area to buy duty-free items, re-sell for profit

SINGAPORE — A technician used his pass to illegally enter a transit area close to 50 times within Changi Airport, all to buy duty-free items with his employee discount.

Wang Chong was given an airport seasonal pass, which allowed him to enter restricted areas solely for official duties or business, but he used it to shop for items for a friend's online business.

Wang Chong was given an airport seasonal pass, which allowed him to enter restricted areas solely for official duties or business, but he used it to shop for items for a friend's online business.

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SINGAPORE — A technician used his pass to illegally enter a transit area close to 50 times within Changi Airport, all to buy duty-free items with his employee discount.

Most of the time, he would get cosmetics and deliver them to a friend in China, who would sell them online to earn a profit. He earned about S$20 for each item sold.

On Wednesday (May 29), Wang Chong, 23, was sentenced to three weeks’ jail and an S$8,000 fine.

The Chinese national pleaded guilty to eight counts of failing to comply with direction in protected areas and places, with another 40 similar charges taken into consideration for sentencing.

It was not stated how many items he bought in total, or how he delivered the items to his friend in China.

The court heard that Wang entered the departure transit area of Changi Airport’s Terminal 2 on 48 occasions over about eight months, between March 28 and Nov 20 last year.

He was employed as a technician by Beumer Group, a baggage handling solutions provider.

For his job at the Terminal 4 baggage sorting area, he was given an airport seasonal pass, which allowed him to enter restricted areas solely for official duties or business.

He used the pass — which also gave him a 10 per cent discount for purchases at the airport — to buy cosmetics, bags and food from the transit area.

His spree came to an end in January this year when a senior investigation officer at the Airport Police Division received information that he was misusing his pass to buy duty-free items in the transit area.

In mitigation, Wang said in Mandarin through an interpreter that he committed the offences to support his younger brother, who is still in school. He claimed that his parents were divorced and not taking care of his brother.

Wang also said that he had been unemployed for three months when the police were investigating him. On some of the occasions when he entered the transit area, he said he only took photographs and compared prices.

“I did not buy every time… I didn’t cause harm to members of the public,” he added.

His defence cut no ice with District Judge Ng Peng Hong, who told him that he had abused his position as an authorised personnel.

For each charge under the Protected Areas and Protected Places Act, Wang could have been jailed up to two years and fined up to S$1,000.

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