Three Mongolian men were fined $1,500 each in a district court on Monday morning after they pleaded guilty to pickpocketing on Jan 25 at Bugis Village in Victoria Street.

A team of police officers, out on a anti-pickpocketing operation, saw one of them, a 32-year-old, distributing money to three other men. When confronted, one men fled while three others were arrested after a struggle. The other two men are 23 years old.

They were unable to explain the 100 Euro, US$200, A $90, US$150 travellers' cheques, four credit cards and a brown wallet that were found in their possession.

All three apologised to the judge for their behaviour and asked for a lenient sentence as they wanted to return to Mongolia. They were ordered to serve a week in jail if they could not pay the fine.

The Mongolian interpreter told The Straits Times that the trio are arranging for money to be wired from Mongolia so that they can pay the fines.