Staff member accused of stealing £10,000 from supermarket
A staff member allegedly broke into an Asian supermarket in Belfast to steal £10,000 from his manager’s office, a court heard today.
Police claimed Lin Min Khant, 24, used a window left open to carry out the cash raid in the middle of the night.
He was arrested later that day wearing a newly purchased designer coat worth more than £1,500, a judge was told.
Khant, of College Park Avenue in the city, faces charges of burglary and converting criminal property.
Belfast Magistrates’ Court heard a masked intruder targeted the OYE Asian Supermarket at Boucher Place on March 19 this year.
CCTV footage captured the unidentified man enter the building via an open window in the early hours of the morning.
He appeared to be familiar with the layout and immediately covered cameras in two offices, an investigating detective said.
An examination of the recordings allegedly showed Khant at the window on the day before the burglary.
Staff reported there had been no reason for him to open it or be in the manager’s office from where the £10,000 was stolen.
He was also said to have arrived unusually late for work on the day of the break-in and then left early.
Police attended Khant’s home and discovered large amounts of cash in a bag matching the type carried by the intruder in the CCTV footage.
The defendant was not present during the searches, but agreed to meet officers who arrested him in the city centre later that day.
The detective disclosed: “He was found to have a Prada jacket worth £1,584 which had been purchased with cash at Victoria Square (shopping centre).”
Police also found receipts for lodgements of £2,750 and £1,500 made into Post Office accounts belonging to Khant and another man on that date.
The court was told that around £4,150 of the stolen cash remains missing.
During interviews Khant denied leaving the supermarket window open, entering the office or covering the cameras.
He claimed to have gone out on his e-scooter to visit friends in south Belfast at around 1am on March 19, but they were not at home to verify his movements.
Khant told police he then got a taxi back to his own address after the scooter ran out of battery power.
Last month he was granted bail under a series of conditions which include a curfew, prohibition on leaving Northern Ireland and a ban on entering the supermarket.
He remains in custody, however, amid issues over obtaining a surety as part of the terms of his release.
A defence lawyer argued that the requirement should be changed, but police insisted it had been imposed to guard against losing evidence if the defendant left the jurisdiction.
Adjourning the application, Deputy District Judge Gerard Trainor indicated the case should go back to his judicial colleague who originally granted bail.