Two men were arrested on Friday (19 June) after they allegedly stole a diamond worth more than S$235,000 from a jewellery store in Chinatown.
They allegedly did this by swapping the diamond with a fake one, the Singapore Police Force (SPF) said in a news release sent to MS News.
Men allegedly swapped diamond while examining it at Chinatown shop
The two men visited the store along Kreta Ayer Road on Friday, SPF said.
They showed interest in purchasing the diamond and were allowed to examine it, according to preliminary investigations.
But while doing so, they replaced it with a fake one and left the shop without making any purchases.
Suspicions from shop assistant led to discovering fake diamond
Their behaviour raised suspicion among a shop assistant.
He then checked the diamond and discovered that it had been replaced with a fake.
The police were called at about 3.40pm.
Men arrested at Changi Airport within three hours
Officers from the Central Police Division and Police Operations Command Centre carried out extensive follow-up investigations, which included conducting ground enquiries and viewing images from CCTV and police cameras.
They identified the two men, aged 30 and 42, who were arrested at Changi Airport Terminal 3 within three hours of the report being made.