Man who stole $450 from GrabCar driver fined $5,000

A man who was caught on video stealing $450 from a GrabCar driver was fined $5,000 in court on Monday (Nov 13).

Stomp had previously reported on the July 23 incident when the video showing Muhammad Faidil Samri, 28, reaching forward and taking 53-year-old GrabCar driver Sulaiman Sarif's wallet when he was not looking went viral.

The court heard that Sulaiman had picked up Faidil and his two other passengers at Block 596A Ang Mo Kio Street 52 at 5.14am to drive them to Block 446A Jalan Kayu, reports The Straits Times.

When they had reached Jalan Kayu, Faidil told the other passengers to alight first and told Sulaiman to drop him off further down the main road.

While Sulaiman was distracted by the other two passengers getting out, Faidil was caught on video reaching forward to take the Grab driver's wallet that was placed between the two front seats.

He removed $450 from the wallet before placing it back where he took it.

He then exited the car after using an unknown amount of the stolen money to pay for the ride.

He was soon identified and arrested by the police on Aug 3.

Faidil also admitted to riding his cousin's motorcycle without his consent along Yishun Ring Road, and for riding without a valid class 2B licence on Mar 23. He was fined $500 on each of the two charges.

He will serve a default sentence of 24 days' jail if he cannot pay the $6,000 fine.

Faidil could have been jailed for up to three years.