AUSTRALIA COMPUTERS STOLEN FROM BUSINESSThe Daily Telegraph | Crime of fashionCrime of fashion

By RHETT WATSON Police Reporter

January 8, 2005

THE rag trade has always been tough but it plumbed new depths yesterday with a raid on a Surry Hills business aimed at stealing fashion secrets.


Three men entered the Edge Emporium International office in Kippax St just after midday, forced two staff to the floor and bound them hand and foot with octopus straps.

While they stole mobile phones and wallets, it appears the booty they were really seeking was the six-month-old company's four computers.


And they rolled them out of the ninth-storey suite using the business' own green trolley.


"We had everything on those computers," owner Mason Chen said.


"They had our customers' records, and everything for our winter range – diagrams, cut-outs, everything."


He says the raid was by someone wanting the designs or a competitor wanting to put him out of business.



"What has been stolen would be worth a lot of money to other businesses in the industry," he said.


"Now I will have to start again. I don't think my staff will want to come back after what has happened. I think this will bankrupt me."


The firm's designer, Michelle, wiped tears as police spoke to her.


When her boyfriend arrived she clung to him, crying and shaking.



While the men were not armed they are believed to have used the threat of violence to intimidate the staff.


A witness said the three had entered the business casually, as though they were couriers.


One was of Pacific Islander appearance with dreadlocks, a second was Chinese and a third of European appearance.


Police have taken footage, captured by cameras at the nearby Daily Telegraph offices, showing the men running down Kippax St, dumping a green trolley.


Police fanned out to search the building and surrounding areas but the trio had escaped.


One fashion house in the area revealed its staff had been asked to attend Surry Hills Police Station but they were unsure what it was about.


Anyone with information can call Surry Hills Police on 9265 4144 or CrimeStoppers on 1800 333 000.