Robbery or actual 'bad luck'?

I won't name the club, as I have no proof, but I believe my buddy got robbed the other night. Bought him a TD with a dancer who had been chatting us up for a while. She took him up and proceeded to ask him to remove his wallet and phone so she doesn't cut or otherwise harm herself. My buddy removed his pretty thin wallet and phone and placed them on the couch the dance was on. Dance goes ok, he reaches over and grabs his stuff, and heads back to the seat. About 30 seconds off the platform he pats himself and realizes his wallet is not there, goes back up to the VIP platform and the same dancer is already with another guy on the same couch. We ask them to move to check the cushion and between area, around the floor, under any adjoining table...asked the guy sitting (didn't speak english) if he found it....nada. Talked to manager to check the video, and he said he saw no-one between my buddy walking away and the girl and customer coming back, so no one walking by bending down to pick 'something' up. Now. While I'd still say it was theft, if the wallet just dropped or was actually left behind and was grabbed by someone....I wouldn't say he was robbed. However, if the girl knowingly pushed it down into the couch or on the floor so he'd miss it when getting up....then brought a new 'customer'/partner over to immediately grab it up...yeah....robbed. I mean it's still 100% his fault for not being aware of his wallet being gone at 0.0001 seconds after standing up, but he was a noob and she knew that, and maybe saw it as a chance to take advantage of someone she'd know was distracted. Points against it just being an accident. Stripper was back at the same spot less than 30 seconds after walking down...that's a pretty quick turn around for even the best hustle. Point 2, non english speaking 'customer' meant even if he did get busted he could play the 'no comprendo' card about not understanding what I was asking. Point 3, the customer seemed to leave almost immediately after the whole thing and his dance was done. Point 4, and the real kicker to me....dancer left about 10 min after as well. Point in her favor of not being a thief....she was very nice both before and after things happened...sitting and talking about getting the manager to look at the video, and options for flying out the next day (his ID was in the wallet). I'd like to think she would have just kept her distance if she just robbed him. Especially if she was leaving anyway. It's all done now, luckily he had brought his passport to fly back, and only had about $150 in the wallet, but it really turned the whole visit sour for him, his first visit to a strip club. Even after I bought him another dance with a different girl that went better....it was a quiet drive back to the hotel. So what is your opinion dear mongers? Does this sound like it was set up, or was it just bad luck on my buddy's part + some unscrupulous passer by who saw the dropped wallet and snagged it? If a setup, does it sound like a common one?