It’s been a while since we’ve heard anything about David James Roach (or as we’ve started referring to as… The Roach), the man who daringly robbed a Standard Chartered bank branch in 2016.
The 28-year-old Canadian already served a 14-month prison term in Thailand (where he fled to after the robbery), and was deported to the UK after. But it’s out of the frying pan and into the fire, as UK authorities have since detained him, thanks to a request from Singapore.
In a joint statement made by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC), Singapore sought the assistance of UK authorities to arrest the bank robber with the intention to extradite him back here to face punishment.
“We are working with the UK authorities to commence the extradition proceedings,” they wrote in a statement.
On July 7, 2016, Roach allegedly conducted a lone bank heist, in which he entered a Standard Chartered bank branch at Holland Village and gave a bank teller a threatening note that stated that he was carrying a weapon. He was said to have made off with S$30,000 and fled to Bangkok, but was found and detained by the Thai police three days later.
But Thailand and Singapore do not have an extradition treaty, and efforts to get him back here weren’t successful. Nonetheless, Roach was sentenced to 14 months’ prison in June last year for crimes linked to the bank robbery, including violating customs laws for smuggling over US$20,000 into the country.
He ended his prison term earlier this month and was deported from Thailand on Jan 11. Now, he awaits another possible jail sentence, should the Singapore authorities manage to have him extradited back here.
