Switcheroo: Chinese woman steals $183k worth of luxury goods from best friend's home and replaces them with fakes

Just how much do you trust your bestie? Enough to trust them with the keys to your home?

Well for one woman from the northeastern Jilin province in China, her trust in her best friend ultimately cost her to the tune of 940,000 yuan (S$183,308) in luxury goods.

The thief, surnamed Liu, had taken the high-end items over the span of three years and covered her tracks by replacing them with fakes.

This case has created quite a buzz on China's Weibo after online media outlet The Star Video posted a video about it.

Best friends who could "talk about everything"

Liu and her best friend, surnamed Cao, have known each other for years and their relationship was described as one which they could "talk about everything".

But things changed in 2019, after Cao brought a new house located in the city of Changchun. She was frequently away and entrusted Liu with her house keys to oversee the renovation.

Little did she know, her best pal Liu stole nearly 20 luxury items from her home which included Hermes and Louis Vuitton handbags, Bulgari bracelets and other branded clothing. Liu then managed to cover her tracks by replacing them with high-quality counterfeits that she bought online.

While it was not made known how, Cao only discovered and reported the crime in 2022. Even then, she still believed that Liu was innocent for a long time after reporting the matter. 

Liu only came clean to her friend after Cao shared the news that the authorities were closing in on a suspect.

Due to the fact that she did not confess and misled police investigations, Liu was sentenced to the maximum 12 years jail term by a local court in 2022.

According to China's criminal laws, it states that any theft exceeding 300,000 yuan is punishable by more than 10 years imprisonment.

Friend or foe?

Back in December 2021, an Indonesian maid was jailed for six weeks in Singapore for stealing 74 items worth more than $2,000 from her employer according to Shi Min Daily News.

She was only caught after her attempt to mail the stolen items to her overseas boyfriend and friend was rejected by the courier company.

Among the items taken were clothes, ties, jackets and pyjamas. The 25-year-old maid also stole dinnerware, drinks, food items and even dog toys.

The employer shared that his former helper had been working for the family for about a year.

ALSO READ: Maid steals gold necklace from employer's 4-year-old daughter, lies to them that it had gone missing

timothywee@asiaone.com

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