Trio who planned burglaries of landed homes in Singapore, stealing S$644,700, gets jail

SINGAPORE: Three foreign men who planned burglaries in Singapore targeting private estates and made away with valuables worth S$644,700 (US$505,000) were jailed on Thursday (Oct 22).

Hernando Giraldo Franco, a 62-year-old Spanish-Colombian man, was sentenced to six years and eight months' jail.

Garcia Iglesias Hector Daniel, a 53-year-old Mexican man, and 49-year-old Mexican-Colombian national Garces Murillo Mateo Andres each received seven years and four months' jail.

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

THE CASE

The three men were friends who arrived in Singapore for the first time in April or May 2025, the court heard.

While in Singapore, they devised a plan to burglarise landed homes by searching for private residential estates.

Hernando used a car he had rented for sightseeing to take his accomplices to a hardware store, where they bought a screwdriver and electric grinder for the break-ins.

Garcia and Garces bought caps, gloves, masks and black jackets to conceal their identities.

When night fell, Hernando drove Garcia and Garces around private estates to look for houses with no lights or signs of human activity.

Hernando was to be the lookout and getaway driver while the other two men carried out the break-ins.

THE BURGLARIES

Shortly before 9.30pm on May 9, 2025, the trio went to Dunearn Close and picked a house with no lights on.

While Hernando waited outside in the parked car, Garcia and Garces climbed over a wall into the compound and entered the house through a window.

They ransacked the master bedroom and filled a bag with stolen items, but found nothing worth stealing in two other rooms.

Garcia and Garces then left the house and returned to Hernando's car before heading to a hotel.

In total, they stole items worth about S$644,700, including gold coins, jewellery, diamond rings and earrings, luxury watches and cash, from the Dunearn Close house.

The following night on May 10, 2025, they went to Eng Neo Avenue and picked a target.

However, Garcia and Graces fled before they could enter the house as they heard noises from within the compound.

They later returned and entered the house through an open sliding door on the ground floor.

The two men went to a dressing room on the second floor where they attempted to break open a safe with a screwdriver but failed.

They did not manage to find anything valuable to steal.

Around 10pm, an elderly man in the house noticed Garces standing near a staircase on the second floor and shouted at him.

Garces banged on the door of the dressing room to alert Garcia before making a run for it.

Garcia rushed out of the room and tried to flee, but the elderly man poured water from a kettle he was holding onto the floor to stop Garcia.

Garcia slipped and fell but managed to escape through the same sliding door.

Hernando picked the two men up and they went back to the hotel after throwing the screwdriver and clothing used in the burglary into a forested area.

The trio was arrested near their hotel on May 11, 2025, and cash and two handbags that had been stolen from the Dunearn Close house were recovered.

All the stolen items were recovered and the men were remanded.

SENTENCING

Deputy Public Prosecutor Leong Kit Yu sought between nine and 11 years' jail for Hernando and Garces. He asked for between 10 and 12 years' jail for Garcia.

He pointed to the value of the items stolen, the damage caused to the safes and the planning and premeditation involved in the burglaries.

Hernando was represented by Mr Azri Imran Tan from Pro Bono SG, who sought a jail term of not more than six-and-a-half years.

Ms Tan Jun Yin and Mr Thangavelu sought five years and four months for Garces, while Ms Seraphine Loh asked for five years and nine months for Garcia.

In sentencing, District Judge Ong Luan Tze said this was quite an egregious case of housebreaking committed against residential properties at night.

There was extensive ransacking and damage as a result, she said.

Judge Ong said the fact that most of the property stolen was eventually recovered cannot really be credited to the trio.

She added that there was no reason to distinguish Hernando's culpability just because he was not the one who actually broke into the house.

As a lookout and getaway driver, he played an equally important role in the whole plan, said the judge.

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