Editor's Note: Two foreign men were caught on a high-end shoplifting spree in Shanghai and sentenced to 10 years in Chinese prison. They hit eight stores and stole more than 1 million Yuan in goods before they were caught. Their big mistake was stealing a one of a kind piece from a high-end leather store valued at almost a million Yuan. The men had heard from others that stealing designer goods in China was easy because the salespeople did not pay close attention to customers. Looks like salespeople in the luxury good industry need to get their act together!

Two foreign thieves were caught stealing luxury goods in Shanghai worth up to 1.4 million Yuan. The two men were found guilty Monday morning in a Shanghai court. Chougrani Abd El Hakim and Lahres Sid Ahmed were sentenced to 10 years in prison, fined 15,000 and 10,000 Yuan respectively.

Stealing in China is Easy?

57 year old Hakim and 50 year old Ahmed are Algerian nationals. On March 17, 2015 they opened a clothing store in Paris. The men said that they learned that Shanghai was an international metropolis for fashion and had many stores with high-end imports. They added that they heard that salespeople in these stores are not especially vigilant and stealing is easy. 

The two men took a trip to China shortly after in order to steal luxury goods. In their heists, the men brought Euro into the high-end stores and pretend they did not know they could not use Euros in high-end shops in China. They would pretend to try to negotiate with the salespeople and leave without purchasing anything. However, while they were “shopping,” they would fill their backpacks with high-end clothes and smuggle them out of the store.

The men said later that Ahmed would distract the salesperson by trying to buy an item with Euros, while Hakim would bring a number of expensive items into a fitting room and shove them into his backpack. He then would give Ahmed a hand signal that the theft was complete. Ahmed would tell the salesperson that was going to convert his cash into RMB and return later.

A Million Yuan Jacket

Hakim and Ahmed stole clothing from stores in Shanghai's Jing'an, Huangpu and Pudong districts. They most frequently stole from stores with high-end leather imported goods on Nanjing West Road.

A salesperson sounded the alarm on March 22 when the men stole two Stefano Ricci cured leather jackets worth a total of 1.06 million Yuan stolen from the Stefano Ricci store in The Portman Ritz-Carlton. One of the jackets was made from blue crocodile and cost 998,000 Yuan. It was the only jacket of its kind in the entire country and was the most treasured item in the store. The other jacket was made from ostrich leather.

Shanghai police locked in on the two men right as they planned to leave Shanghai. Police arrested the thieves on the afternoon of the 24th and seized a number of stolen leather and other luxury goods at the scene.

The Exchange Rate Was Unclear!

In only five days, the two men had robbed eight stores throughout Shanghai. Their cache included clothing and leather goods from a total of 19 brands including Brioni, Lanvin, Ermenegido Zegna, Prolivon, Prada, and Corneliani. The stolen goods recovered were valued at 1.4 million Yuan.

In court, Hakim and Ahmed argued that the exchange rate between the Euro and RMB was not clear to them, and they did not know the prices of the goods they stole were so high. The court stated that Hakim and Ahmed traveled to China and purchased tickets, meals, and accommodation, and should therefore be able to understand the exchange rate.

The two eventually confessed and pleaded guilty. Taking this into account, and the fact that the goods they had stolen had been seized, the court's verdict was lenient according to the law.

Source: thepaper.cn

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Keywords: Foreigners sentenced to prison Shanghai Stealing luxury goods Shanghai