Singapore jails foreign trio over $504,500 home burglary

Three foreign men who planned nighttime burglaries of landed homes in Singapore, stealing valuables worth S$644,700 ($504,500) from one house, were jailed on Oct. 22.

Hernando Giraldo Franco, a 62-year-old Spanish-Colombian, was sentenced to six years and eight months' jail, CNA reported. Garcia Iglesias Hector Daniel, a 53-year-old Mexican, and Garces Murillo Mateo Andres, a 49-year-old Mexican-Colombian, each received seven years and four months' jail.

All three pleaded guilty to several charges, including theft, housebreaking and concealment of criminal benefits.

Each man faced four charges, with the remaining charges taken into consideration in sentencing, Malaysia's Oriental Daily News reported.

The three friends arrived in Singapore for the first time in April or May 2025, the court heard, and devised a plan to break into landed homes by searching for private residential estates.

Shortly before 9:30 p.m. on May 9, 2025, the trio picked an unlit house on Dunearn Close in Bukit Timah. While Hernando waited in the parked car, Garcia and Garces climbed over a wall into the compound and entered through a window.

They ransacked the master bedroom and filled a bag, finding nothing worth stealing in two other rooms. Their haul included gold coins, jewelry, diamond rings and earrings, luxury watches and cash.

The trio then drove to the hotel where Garcia was staying, split the cash and hid the rest of the loot in the ceiling of a room, Oriental Daily News reported.

Kettle water on the floor

The following night, May 10, they targeted a house on Eng Neo Avenue. Garcia and Garces fled before getting in after hearing noises from within the compound, but later returned and entered through an open sliding door on the ground floor.

In a second-floor dressing room, they tried to break open a safe with a screwdriver but failed, and found nothing valuable to steal.

They fled after an elderly man in the house noticed one of them.

They were arrested near their hotel the next day, and cash and two handbags taken from the Dunearn Close house were recovered.

Police said at the time that the three were arrested within 27 hours of the first in a series of housebreaking reports in the area, helped by key witness accounts from two members of the public.

For housebreaking to commit theft, the men could have been jailed for up to 10 years and fined.

Singapore topped Gallup's 2025 Global Safety Report as the world's safest country, with 98% of residents saying they felt safe walking alone at night.