Retiree Dutch Couple Staying in Penang under MM2H robbed of RM500,000

Couple robbed of RM500,000

BY BERNARD SEE

GEORGE TOWN: A Dutch couple were fast asleep on the third floor of their house in Batu Ferringhi when three masked robbers, armed with parang and a wire cutter, woke them up.

In the 4.30am incident yesterday, the three robbers warned the man, a retiree staying in Penang under the Malaysia My Second Home (MM2H) scheme, not to fight back or else they would rape his wife.

The robbers then tied the victims with handphone charger cables before ransacking the premises.

They managed to flee with Girard Perregaux and Rolex wristwatches worth RM154,000 and RM40,000; rings and ear rings worth between RM7,000 and RM44,000 each; a RM9,000 Hermes handbag and two handphones as well as some cash, all worth RM500,000.

The victims managed to free themselves a short while later and a police report was lodged at the nearby police station.

The robbers cut the fencing before gaining entry into the house located in a gated community.

Police will question the security guards to determine how the robbers could have eluded them as well as obtain CCTV footage.

It is learnt that the husband, who used to work in Indonesia, was sure that the robbers were Indonesians based on the accent.

OCPD Asst Comm Mior Farida­lathrash Wahid, who confirmed the crime, said this was the third time the robbers had struck within a week in the Tanjung Bungah and Batu Ferringhi areas.

“Their modus operandi is to wait for the occupants to fall asleep before breaking into the premises in the early hours of the morning,” he said.

“We hope to make an arrest soon.”