Cortina Watch Theft Saga

[Mille]

They recovered all the watches meh??? I don't think so, right???

no lah,dont think so,he need to keep some for his retirement la

wow.... are we expecting another sale coming out from Cortina?

will probably be undervalued and go under hammer

[rh1667]

So will those stolen watches be returned to Cortina or will they be kept in Police station until trial is over?
Hmmm....imagine can go police station and view those exotic pieces...ha ha

[Nooch]

Update from ST today:

Ex staff surrenders

THE man believed to have robbed luxury watch retailer Cortina of $13 million in timepieces has turned himself in.

Mr Jerry Ee, 35, surfaced at the Singapore Embassy in Bangkok yesterday morning with a friend and Singapore lawyer Amarick Gill.

Regular visitor to Thailand
MR JERRY Ee, 35, knew his way around Thailand.

He speaks Thai, which he picked up from several annual trips to Bangkok, when he visited temples and partied with friends. A childhood friend, Mr Chang Jun, a Singaporean in his mid-30s who has a Thai wife, accompanied him to the Singapore Embassy yesterday.

On the run since the Christmas Day heist, he was dressed in a blue pullover, denim jeans and a brown baseball cap.

In one of Singapore's biggest robbery cases ever, Cortina lost 386 watches in six designer brands - Audemars Piguet, Girard-Perregaux, Panerai, Patek Philippe, Rolex and Vacheron Constantin - and 194 guarantee cards.

Also missing from the store: $27,137.

Yesterday, the three men hauled three large suitcases and three backpacks out of a dark grey Toyota Fortuner sports utility vehicle and made their way into the embassy.

The driver, who left almost immediately, is understood to be a childhood friend of Mr Ee's named Chang Jun.

Mr Chang, a Singaporean in his mid-30s, has a Thai wife from a town about a two-hour drive outside Bangkok.

Mr Gill told The Straits Times that Mr Ee, who worked at the Raffles City store where the robbery occurred, would hand over a 'substantial number' of the timepieces.

Mr Ee, who had been with Cortina since April 2004, was the senior store supervisor and had locked the premises on Christmas Day.

Anyone has full access to e article care to share??

[wilenez]

wat happen to those who bought from him. Now those pple will be sweating hoping this jerry wont leak out their phone no. or particular to the authority....don be surprise some of them might be 'got head got face one'.....

[Darkangel]

They recovered all the watches meh??? I don't think so, right???

Substantial amt.,..not all

no lah,dont think so,he need to keep some for his retirement la

will probably be undervalued and go under hammer

\

I think will return to Cortina...

So will those stolen watches be returned to Cortina or will they be kept in Police station until trial is over?
Hmmm....imagine can go police station and view those exotic pieces...ha ha

[phantom628]

I wonder if ALL the watches are in the 3 suitcases and 3 backpacks?

[danielskl]

If return to Cortina, then how Cortina deal with those watched? Sell it to the consumer again?? Then who want to buy? Or another Cortina sale again??

[116520]

They might use this incident as an "excuse" to have another sale to sell off those watches at a "good" discount.... or maybe they might organise a "recovered watches auction" and auction off those watches.... both ways, they earn big bucks.... I might be getting a phone call from Cortina later to hire me as a Marketing manager.... ha ha....

If return to Cortina, then how Cortina deal with those watched? Sell it to the consumer again?? Then who want to buy? Or another Cortina sale again??

[seiko.citizen]

i wont mind buying, but price must be attractive considering the background history

[Mille]

dont think cortina will put the stocks back in and pretend nothing happen ma...
future customer will sure make noise when the watches got tamper with ma..

surely will go auction one,imagine audemar piguet roo sell for 10k only ..muahaha

[116520]

Now when we buy watch, no box no talk!

Some stolen Cortina watches could have been sold in int’l market

Channel NewsAsia - Thursday, March 19SINGAPORE: Jerry Ee, the former Cortina watch staff who pulled off one of Singapore’s biggest heists, is still in the custody of the Royal Thai Police.

The 35—year—old, who made away with some S$8 million worth of watches from Cortina last year, surrendered at the Singapore embassy in Bangkok on Tuesday.

It is understood that Cortina’s bosses from Singapore are now in Bangkok.

386 luxury watches went missing at Cortina’s Raffles City outlet on Boxing Day last year, along with cash and guarantee cards totalling S$13 million.

So far, only about 200 of the stolen watches have been recovered.

Industry sources said the missing timepieces could have been sold off and might be passing hands in the international market.

One luxury watch dealer Channel NewsAsia spoke to said authorities should release the serial numbers of the watches in question, to make sure that shops in Singapore do not deal with stolen items.

A S$45,000 Vasheron Constantin watch was one of the many brands that went missing from the Cortina shop. And in the last few months, some customers have been questioning if the watches they are buying could be stolen items.

But Passions Watch Exchange said it always give a guarantee. Its operations director, Jonathan Tee, said: "All these pieces, we have 100% buyback guarantee to make sure they are safe. If there’s any police case... we give a full refund."

He believes that the still—missing watches may have a common trait if they appear on the market.

He said: "I don’t suppose those watches he took away with him come with the boxes... Papers and certificates, maybe. But boxes, it doesn’t make sense. 300 over watches, when you carry (the boxes), it will be one big luggage alone."

Watch dealers say they take precautions and screen sellers by asking them questions on the background of the watch they are selling.

— CNA/ir

[seiko.citizen]

this could place alot of watch pieces under scrutiny but at the end of the day, one must realise, whats a *new* watch with a relative new serial number doing with its papers but no box. as watch buyers we understand that majority of hobbyist will keep their box + papers.

[Darkangel]

Well for the high end pieces they cannot run because the serial numbers and such have to be released to the world..

So chances are that it maybe under auction...

But then again on the other hand the Rolexes may quietly slip into the glass display of Cortina...you think?

[Oceanklassik]

I ponder

In fact, by now I believe the insurance co. had paid out money to Cortina for the losses (Cortina had already announced then that they were covered by insurance). So with the recovery of some pcs, shouldn't the watches go to the insurance co.? Or if they are returned to Cortina, wouldn't Cortina have to repay some money back to its insurer? Which is which?

As for someone asking the custody of the recovered watches, unless they are perishable goods/items like food items for example, the police will safekeep the "case exhibits" until the whole case is over, meaning the accused is charged and sentenced in Court. Thereafter, the Court will issue an Order for the case exhibits to be returned to its rightful owner.

Cheers!

[116520]

Yes, every piece is itemized and based on which one is recovered, Cortina will have to return the money back to the insurer.

They will get back the watches after Jerry is sentenced in Court. Meanwhile, those watches are locked as "case exhibits" by the police.

In fact, by now I believe the insurance co. had paid out money to Cortina for the losses (Cortina had already announced then that they were covered by insurance). So with the recovery of some pcs, shouldn't the watches go to the insurance co.? Or if they are returned to Cortina, wouldn't Cortina have to repay some money back to its insurer? Which is which?

As for someone asking the custody of the recovered watches, unless they are perishable goods/items like food items for example, the police will safekeep the "case exhibits" until the whole case is over, meaning the accused is charged and sentenced in Court. Thereafter, the Court will issue an Order for the case exhibits to be returned to its rightful owner.

Cheers!