'Wealthy businessman' made his fortune as a handbag snatcher
Suspect swapped his luxury car for a motorcycle after leaving home for his 'office'
To his neighbours, the 45-year-old living next door was the very model of a rich and successful businessman.
He drove a Mercedes-Benz and dressed immaculately in business suits. Every morning, he left his two-storey house in upmarket Subang Jaya, where he lived with his second wife, who worked as a flight attendant.
His neighbours believed he was heading for the company boardroom.
But instead, he would park his luxury car at a quiet spot, don cheap clothes and climb onto a motorcycle, which allowed him to get on with the job that financed his upper-crust lifestyle - snatching women's handbags.
His three-year spree ended on Monday, after he snatched the handbag of a 25-year-old woman whose screams alerted passing police patrolmen.
The police gave chase and caught the man - a former security guard with Malaysia Airports, who cannot be named until he is charged.
Later, police listened in astonishment as the suspect confessed to having snatched handbags from more than 170 victims since 2001.
'I have heard many criminals confess, but this about beats it all,' city police chief Fauzi Shaari said. 'He is very careful, does two or three jobs a week and operates in different areas. His pickings averaged M$15,000 (HK$30,800) a month.'
The suspect, who sometimes sprayed his victims with chilli powder, led police to his home, where they seized about 150 handbags, credit cards, ATM cards, mobile phones, jewellery, international passports and cash in various currencies worth about M$300,000.
The suspect was taken to court on Wednesday and remanded until Tuesday.
Three further suspects were arrested for buying stolen jewellery and mobile phones from the man.
Police said the man collected the handbags and some of the contents as mementoes.
'He developed a fondness for some items,' Mr Fauzi said.
About 30 victims had come forward to claim their handbags.
The suspected bag-snatcher reportedly continued to send money to his first wife, who lived in northern Kedah state, while living with his second wife, with whom he had two children.
Police questioned the man's second wife, but she was not expected to be charged because she too apparently believed her husband was a company chairman.
'The family went out often and returned laden with shopping bags,' one neighbour said. 'They were always renovating their house and having holidays abroad.
'I always wondered how they paid for it all.'
