Two full time NSFs; Benjamin Chua Yuu Zhe, 21-years-old and Joshua Marcus Lee Zhanhong, 20-years-old, stole about $2,000 worth of Pokemon cards and card sleeves from a Pokemon Centre shop located at Changi Jewel and a gift shop at Tanglin Mall.
They pleaded guilty to multiple charges of theft, with most of the stolen items being Pokemon cards in “Elite trainer boxes” and some card sleeves.
Chua was sentenced to 1 year probation on 12 January, while Lee was sentenced previously on 8 December to the same sentence.
Both guys were serving their full time national service with the SAF at the time of the offences.
On a journey to “Catch em all!”
Chua and Lee went to the Pokemon Centre at Jewel Changi Airport on 14 June 2021 and stole two Elite Shining Fates trainer boxes, along with 2 packets of Deck Shield sleeves – they slipped the items into their bag (Lee’s) and jacket (Chua’s).
The Pokemon thieves then returned to the store 2 days later to steal some more things, taking three Pokemon Elite Shining Fates trainer boxes and putting them inside their bags while hiding between the store shelves.
The shop’s staff discovered that the items were missing and reported the theft to the police after reviewing the CCTV footage.
Ash Ketchum and Gary Oak Chua and Lee then went to Gifts Greetings at Tanglin Mall on 12 June to steal some more things, including metal boxes with cards, a “Sword & Shield” box and snuck them into their bags – their actions were caught on the CCTV.
The two wannabe Pokemon masters then returned to the store again on 18 June and the staff then recognised them from the CCTV footage, after they behaved suspiciously.
They were then arrested and the stolen items were then recovered from Lee’s home.
The total items stolen by the two Pokemon masters amounted to about $1,934.70, and they were recovered from both their homes. The two have since made full restitution for the things that they stole.