Foreign housebreaking syndicate: Recruit caught before stealing anything, gets jail
Zhou Yinggui had only just joined the group when the police spotted him wearing a balaclava and gloves in a forested area.
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SINGAPORE: A group of Chinese nationals watched videos on social media about Singapore's wealth and decided to travel to the country, break into houses and steal valuables.
As part of the syndicate's plan, six Chinese men entered Singapore to break into landed properties, with some of them making away with tens of thousands of dollars worth of cash and jewellery.
Zhou Yinggui, 36, had just been recruited and joined a third housebreaking trip when officers from the Singapore Police Force, including Gurkhas, arrested him and three other members of the group.
He was sentenced to 20 months' jail on Thursday (May 14). He pleaded guilty to one count each of being a member of a locally linked organised criminal group and conspiring to break into houses in order to commit theft.
A third charge was taken into consideration.
The three other men arrested – He Jiao, Zhou Qifa and Yang Chao – were sentenced to over five years' jail last month. The remaining two members of the syndicate, Hu Wen and Zhou Ji, remain at large.
THE CASE
In 2025, five of the criminals, excluding Zhou Yinggui, had a discussion in Kuala Lumpur and agreed to break into houses in Singapore.
They had seen multiple videos on Chinese social media about how wealthy Singapore is and planned to break into "vulnerable" landed properties in Singapore and steal valuables.
The first wave of the group, comprising He, Zhou Qifa, Yang, Hu and Zhou Ji, came to Singapore in July 2025.
They bought and distributed screwdrivers and wrenches among themselves before splitting into two groups and taking private-hire vehicles to private landed properties to look for targets.
Their selection criteria included houses in more secluded places, near forested areas or parks, as well as houses with no closed-circuit television cameras and no dogs.
The group's efforts were fruitless the first two nights, but they settled on a house on Greenleaf Rise as a target on Jul 18, 2025. The residents were overseas, and only their helper was home.
Yang and Hu waited for nightfall before breaking into the house and making away with about S$57,000 in valuables.
The helper discovered the burglary and a neighbour helped to report it to the police.
The group left Singapore with the items and three of them returned in late July 2025 to steal again. They could not identify any targets over about three days and encountered police patrols, so they left the country again.
Zhou Yinggui was recruited for the third wave in early August 2025.
Together with He, Zhou Qifa and Yang, Zhou Yinggui travelled to Singapore from Malaysia. The men obtained tools, such as screwdrivers and wrenches, and took balaclavas with them.
The group of four split in half, with Zhou Yinggui heading off with Yang. The two groups travelled separately in private-hire vehicles to housing estates near the rail corridor as night fell.
Zhou Yinggui and Yang alighted at Jelita Mall and entered forested areas to scout for houses to break into.
Meanwhile, the police had been alerted to the men's entry into Singapore and set up an operation in the Holland-Bukit Timah area.
Police officers, including those from the Gurkha Contingent, were stationed at various forested areas to look out for the suspects.
They spotted He and Zhou Qifa along the main path of the rail corridor near Bukit Timah Road sometime before 8pm and arrested He.
Zhou Qifa dodged the police and left the area on a bus, but was arrested at a mall in Clementi later that night.
Yang and Zhou Yinggui were spotted in a forested area wearing dark attire, balaclavas and gloves. The police gave chase and detained Yang past 8.30pm.
Zhou Yinggui fled and threw his screwdriver into the bushes. He returned to the hotel where he was staying, but was arrested the next day.
SENTENCING
The prosecution sought 20 to 28 months' jail for Zhou Yinggui.
Defence lawyers Mr Chooi Jing Yen and Mr Chen Yongxin, who took the case on under Pro Bono SG's Criminal Legal Aid Scheme, sought not more than 12 months' jail.
They said that their client, a father of three, had just joined the group for two days and was "never more than a grunt" who did not have a particular role nor any unique functions in the group.
In sentencing, District Judge Ng Cheng Thiam said he shared the same sentiment as expressed in a High Court case that it would be aggravating where foreigners enter Singapore for the sole purpose of committing crime.
He said like-minded foreigners must take heed and be mindful of the effectiveness of law enforcement in Singapore, adding that the law will "come down hard" on them if caught.
Judge Ng noted that both the prosecution and defence had come to the same conclusion that Zhou Yinggui played a lesser role than his co-accused.
He stressed that the men had come to Singapore for the sole purpose of trying to break into houses in order to commit theft, and gain a benefit from that.
For conspiring to break into houses to commit theft, Zhou Yinggui could have been jailed for up to 10 years and fined.
For being part of a locally linked organised criminal group, he could have been jailed for up to five years, fined up to S$100,000, or both.
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