Woman boarding flight at JFK Airport accused of stealing $5,600 from airline passenger

An airline passenger at JFK Airport swiped $5,600 in cash and yen from a fellow flier on a screening line, then tried to stash some of the money in a Cheerios box, police said Monday.

Cops pulled Nadira Malilk, 61, a Bangladeshi national, off her Air Emirates flight before it took off Sunday morning, accusing her of stealing the money from a security bin.

The victim, a 60-year-old man from China, put the money — $4,300 in U.S. cash and $1,300 in yen, in a bin and walked through the screening checkpoint at 10:20 a.m., only to find the money missing, said Port Authority police spokesman Joseph Pentangelo.

Police reviewed security footage, and found Malilk, who hid the U.S. cash in a Cheerios box in her carry-on bag, Pentangelo said. She slipped the yen in a zipper compartment in that same carry-on, he said.

“She asked if she could just simply give the money back,” Pentangelo said.

Police returned the victim’s money, and charged Malilk with grand larceny and criminal possession of stolen property.

She was slated to be arraigned in Queens criminal court Monday.

 

Source: DAILY NEWS