RM200,000 gone in 20 seconds in Penang Hotel!

Twenty seconds – that's how long it took a venture capitalist to lose his bag containing more than RM200,000 in cash and valuables at a coffeehouse in a hotel here yesterday.

Ooi Eng Sui, 54, claimed he had just finished a phone call and got up to get a glass of water from a counter just three metres away from the chair where he left the bag.

Ooi: ‘The security personnel gave me all kinds of reasons to turn down my request to view the CCTV footage.’

Returning barely 20 seconds later, he found the bag, which also contained some personal documents, missing.

What irked Ooi most was that he was refused permission to view the closed circuit television (CCTV) camera footage in the hotel’s security control room.

“I am sure the CCTV captured images of the suspect who took my bag. But the security personnel gave me all kinds of reasons to turn down my request,” he told a press conference organised by Penang MCA Youth Public Services and Complaints Bureau chief Ng Siew Khoon.

Ooi lost a total RM211,000 – RM11,000 in cash, RM180,000 worth of jewellery and a RM17,000 pen.

He believed the theft could be an inside job as there were only two tables with guests during the 9.30am incident.

After finding his bag gone, he immediately asked the three waiters on duty to cordon off the area. At the same, he went to the reception counter requesting to view the CCTV footage.

“But the security personnel turned down my request, saying I had no authority to view the footage.”

It was only when the police arrived 30 minutes later that Ooi was allowed into the security control room.

To his dismay, the same security personnel said the CCTV recorder had been sent for repairs last week.

When he approached the hotel general manager, he claimed he was told to “just do what you want”.

Ooi later lodged a police report at the Patani Road police station.

The hotel general manager declined to comment, saying that the case was being handled by the police.

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A venture capitalist’s business trip to Penang turned into a night- mare when he lost his satchel containing RM211,000 in cash and valuables at a hotel coffee house on Friday.

To compound matters, Ooi Eng Su claimed employees at the five-star hotel located in Jalan Sultan Ahmad Shah had been unco-operative in helping him locate the missing items after the 9.30am incident.

The satchel contained a diamond bracelet, a diamond ring, six credit cards, RM11,000, identity card and business papers.

Ooi, 54, said he had gone for breakfast and left the satchel on the seat after getting up to get a cup of water from the nearby counter only to find it missing after he returned.

He said he sought the hotel’s security chief for assistance in locating the satchel.
He claimed he asked the security chief to let him view the closed-circuit television camera (CCTV) footage but his request was turned downed.

"I was surprised as I was the victim.

"So I lodged a police report and waited for the police to arrive.

"A few minutes later, a sergeant arrived but the security chief denied his request, saying that he required someone with a higher rank," he told a press conference yesterday.

With him was state MCA Youth public complaints and services bureau chief Ng Siew Khoon.

Ooi said a police inspector came soon after that but the chief was still reluctant to let him enter the recording room.

He said the policeman insisted that Ooi be let in as he was the victim and the security chief finally relented.

"However, upon reaching the room, the chief turned around and told us the recording machine had been sent for repairs and would only be available in a week’s time.



"I plan to take legal action after the police investigations," he said.

Ng, who called the hotel for comment during the press conference, said the manager declined to comment.



Source : STAR NST
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