RM70,000 in angpow money stolen from wedding

Wedding reception turns sour for newly-weds as their wedding Angpow box goes missing.Filepic

KUALA LUMPUR: A sweet Valentine’s wedding reception turned sour for newly-weds, Cia Cen Lim and Rachel Sim.

The couple had been greeting guests at Sutera Pekin restaurant, Johor Bahru at 7.50pm when they realised their wedding Angpow Box, containing some RM70,000 had gone missing.

“The money box was at the counter guarded by my sister and her boyfriend who were there for hours,” said Cia.

He said it was stolen when his sister’s boyfriend left the counter for a few seconds to attend to a guest. Cia claimed, his sister meanwhile had been distracted by one of the suspects. Closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage showed three suspicious looking men staging out the robbery.

"While my sister was distracted by a man, a guy went underneath the table to steal the Angpow box as seen in the CCTV footage," said the groom.

CCTV footage taken from the restaurant during the night of the incident. One of the suspects is seen with a black backpack- Astro AWANI/Cia Cen Lim

The Angpow box is seen missing from the counter and allegedly hidden beneath the table. - Astro AWANI/Cia Cen Lim

According to Cia, all three suspects were carrying black bags.

"One of them was even pretending to be a photographer, taking photos of guests while another was dressed up as a security guard with a vest, ” he added.

Cia has since lodged a police report at the Skudai Police headquarters but is disappointed with what he claimed as the police's inaction.

"They have asked us to look around the restaurant for clues," Cia said adding he had already provided the police with hundreds of photographs from that night.

Frustrated, Cia used photographs taken by his photographer Julius, to tell his story on social media websites, with the hopes of clamping down on the perpetrators. They have yet to receive any information from the police or the public regarding their misfortune.

Sergeant Marimuthu from the Skudai Police headquarters meanwhile confirmed receiving a report lodged by the couple.

He said the case is still under investigation.

This is the couple's third wedding reception which had cost some RM73,000. The first one was held in Adelaide, Australia followed by the second in Kuching, Sarawak.

- Source: Astro Awani