HR executive steals wallets to fund international trips, arrested: ‘I love making friends abroad’

A 25-year-old man in China has been arrested for stealing multiple wallets packed with cash and credit cards to support his frequent international travel.

A 25-year-old man in China has been arrested for stealing multiple wallets packed with cash and credit cards to support his frequent international travel, reported the South China Morning Post.

He confessed to the thefts, telling police he was driven by his love for travel. (Pexel)

Identified only by his surname, An, the man is a graduate of a prestigious university in Shanghai and works in the human resources department of a major company in the city. Despite earning a modest salary of 10,000 yuan (approximately US$1,400) a month, An had managed to take more than 120 domestic and international trips over the past three years, according to Shanghai TV.

Police began investigating An after a job applicant, surnamed Li, reported his wallet missing following an interview at An’s company. Li later received a call from his bank notifying him that someone had used his credit card to purchase a return air ticket to a foreign country under An’s name. Li told police that he had found An’s behaviour suspicious during the interview.

Following the report, officers began connecting other similar incidents to An. One of his colleagues, Zhou, recalled losing his wallet at work, which contained 1,000 yuan (around US$140) and identity cards. Although Zhou didn’t file a police complaint at the time, believing it to be a minor issue, An later admitted to taking his wallet from the office.

Another case involved a man named Zhang, who said he lost his purse, containing 20,000 yuan (around US$3,000) in cash and credit cards, at Dubai International Airport. “I left my wallet on the check-in counter and went to a nearby counter to pack my luggage. When I returned two minutes later, my wallet was gone. It was so incredible,” Zhang said. Due to time constraints, Zhang did not report the incident to authorities.

Confessed to theft

An eventually confessed to the thefts, telling police he was driven by his love for travel and the desire to showcase his adventures online. “I am good at making friends in a strange environment. We chat happily in the evening and sometimes I will have sex with them,” he said. “These are all nice encounters in my life.”

Authorities said An was planning a trip to Africa and had already received necessary vaccinations before he was apprehended.