Singaporean charged with Ubi Western Union armed robbery

A 58-year-old Singaporean man was charged in court on Saturday (Aug 5) with the armed robbery that took place at the Ubi Avenue 1 Western Union branch on Tuesday (Aug 1).

Hashim Hamzah, allegedly armed himself with a knife before robbing the remittance outlet at around 10.40am that day. He allegedly robbed $4,000.

According to a police news release on Friday (Aug 4), a robber had entered the outlet wearing a helmet and a mask to hide his identity.

He ordered the staff not to shout and demanded for money before fleeing the scene on a bicycle.

A police prosecutor told the court Hashim is believed to be involved in other offences.

Hashim will be remanded at Bedok Police Division. He will be back in court on Aug 11.

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Hashim cannot be caned as he is above 50 years old.

Police said officers from Bedok Police Division as well as the Criminal Investigation and Police Intelligence departments managed to establish the robber's identity after "working tirelessly round the clock".

They arrested Hashim along Pasir Ris Drive 6 on Thursday (Aug 3).

Assistant Commissioner Tan Tin Wee said he is very proud of the officers.

The Commander of Bedok Police Division added: "The police do not tolerate such brazen acts and we will spare no effort to hunt down these offenders to ensure that they face the full brunt of the law."

This case was the second of two armed robbery incidents earlier this week.

On Wednesday (Aug 2), cleaning company worker Visvanathan Vadivelu, 48, was charged in court with arming himself with a kitchen knife to rob a Shell petrol station in Upper Bukit Timah Road on Monday (July 31).

The Singaporean, who is accused of committing Singapore's first armed robbery at a petrol station in 10 years, allegedly made off with $1,193 in cash.

Visvanathan is now remanded at the Central Police Division and will be back in court on Aug 8.

There were 93 cases of robbery last year, down from 230 in 2014.

The number of armed robberies reported dipped from 50 in 2014 to 15 last year.

Offenders convicted of armed robbery can be jailed for up to 10 years and given at least 12 strokes of the cane.