Gang stole cash from suitcase as lawyer chatted

A thief who stole 300,000 yuan in cash from a lawyer riding an airport shuttle bus has been jailed for 12 years.

Zhang Detian was sentenced at Choayang district court after judges heard how he and two accomplices raided the victim's suitcase as they headed downtown from Beijing Capital International Airport.

Police officers quoted by Mirror Evening News said the heist is the largest ever undertaken on one of the capital's airport shuttle bus.

On February 23 last year, a Beijing-based attorney named Wang boarded a bus bound for Gongzhufen at 11 am after landing on a flight from Taiyuan, capital of Shanxi province. He put a black case - stuffed with money given to him as payment from a client - on a luggage rack at the front of the bus and sat five seats back.

According to police, Zhang opened the case and transferred the bank notes to his shoulder bag while his accomplices blocked the view. Wang, who was reportedly distracted by a call on his cell phone for much of the journey, only noticed the theft when he collected the bag at his stop in Guomao and felt how much lighter it was.

Detectives searched for two weeks before they identified the prime suspects using close-camera footage from the airport. Zhang, who originally hails from Jilin province, was detained shortly after. His accomplices are still at large.

Zhang said he had taken the money to repay gambling debts built up in his hometown. He admitted that his gang targeted the lawyer because he was dressed smartly.

As well as a prison sentence, he was fined 12,000 yuan and ordered to pay compensation of another 119,000 yuan.