Three arrested over HK$1.8m HERMèS handbags theft in Tsim Sha Tsui

Police have arrested three people in relation to a Tsim Sha Tsui theft last Friday where a second-hand shop was looted of 14 handbags of luxury brand HERMÈS worth about HK$1.8 million. Officers seized some HK$600,000 of cash and are stilling searching for the missing handbags. 

The theft occurred in the morning last Friday as the thief – dressed in black and wearing a cap – was caught on camera shattering the glass door of the shop situated on Observatory Road and looting the handbags in just five minutes. 

Senior inspector Chong Tak-him from the Yau Tsim district crime squad said after an in-depth investigation, police successfully identified the thief and found that he stored the handbags in a hotel room in Kwun Tong. 

The handbags were then taken to a pharmacy in Sheung Shui and sold to a mainland woman for a large amount of cash. The thief then took various public transports to escape from the police. 

On Monday night, police arrested the thief, 36, and his girlfriend, 38, for theft and money laundering respectively in a hotel room in North Point. The thief was reportedly jobless and the girlfriend a clerk. 

Police believe the girlfriend helped save the crime proceeds in the thief’s bank account after he resold the handbags. Officers also seized about HK$400,000 and HK$200,000 in cash in the hotel room and the girlfriend’s home. 

On Tuesday, police further arrested the 52-year-old female boss of the Sheung Shui pharmacy, who holds a two-way permit, for handling crime proceeds. 

All three were remanded in custody. Police said they may make more arrests and are now searching for the missing handbags. 

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