On June 24, 2025, two Chinese nationals, Feng Yunlong, 38, and Zhang Yongxiang, 52, were each sentenced to 15 months' jail after pleading guilty to one count of housebreaking and theft. Both had one other similar charge taken into consideration during sentencing. The duo were arrested by Singapore Police on December 18, 2024, in connection with break-ins at two landed properties, one at Greenleaf View in Holland and another at Zehnder Road in Buona Vista.
According to the court proceedings, both men arrived in Singapore on December 13, 2024, under social visit passes. Merely three days after arriving, on the evening of December 16 at around 8.50pm, they were seen loitering near a three-storey semi-detached property at Greenleaf View, scouting for a potential target to commit housebreaking and theft.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Teng Yin Hang told the court that after observing that the lights were off in the house, the duo decided to proceed with their plan. Zhang entered the victim’s house by climbing through a sliding window from an adjacent unit, which was under construction at the time. To avoid leaving fingerprints, Zhang wore a pair of gloves he found at the construction site.
Inside the darkened home, Zhang used a torchlight to navigate. He found and stole two wristwatches—a Cartier Roadster valued at $8,800, and a Casio Edifice valued at $150. Feng acted as a lookout during the operation. After taking the items, they left the scene and returned to their hotel.
The homeowners were overseas at the time and only discovered the break-in two days later, on December 18, when they returned and reported the incident to the police.
That same day, the pair committed another break-in at a residence located at Zehnder Road in Buona Vista, where they stole valuables worth over $7,000. The victim in this second incident reported the theft on the same day.
Singapore Police launched investigations and successfully identified the two men using security camera footage from the affected neighbourhoods. They were swiftly arrested later that day.
During sentencing, DPP Teng highlighted that breaking into residential premises is particularly severe, given the psychological distress it could inflict on homeowners—even if they were not present at the time. He requested a sentence of 14 to 16 months for each offender.
In mitigation, both Feng and Zhang pleaded for leniency, citing the need to return to their home country to care for their elderly mothers. This drew a sharp response from District Judge Christopher Goh, who questioned why they had come to Singapore if their family responsibilities were so important.
Through a Mandarin interpreter, Zhang replied: “I just wanted to find a job. I didn’t expect that something like this would happen. It was because I was greedy. I was wrong.” Feng, in turn, simply stated: “I won’t do this any more. I will go home soon and I will accompany my mother.”
Judge Goh ultimately sentenced both men to 15 months’ imprisonment, noting that their actions were calculated and premeditated. The court also considered their prior intentions to commit further offences, as they had just arrived in Singapore five days before their arrests.
For housebreaking and theft, the offenders could have been jailed for up to 10 years and fined, under Singapore law.
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