Foreign talent's contributions to Singapore

[LITTLEREDDOT]

Jail for man linked to $6m purchase of 3 houses; Chinese national bankrolled deals, say DPPs​

Shaffiq Alkhatib
Court Correspondent

MAR 05, 2024

SINGAPORE – A Singaporean man was involved in the purchase of three houses in East Coast Road worth more than $6 million in total, with a Chinese national providing the money for their purchase, a district court heard.
None of the three landed properties was a “non-restricted residential property” so foreigners are normally not entitled to buy them.
On March 5, Tan Hui Meng, 57, was sentenced to jail for two years, three months and three weeks. The undischarged bankrupt and shareholder of a local firm, Hwampoa, was also fined $3,000.
After a trial, District Judge Jasvender Kaur convicted him of eight charges in January, including three under the Residential Property Act.
According to court documents, Chinese national Zhan Guotuan, 59, had paid for the three properties – identified in court documents as J1, P1 and M1. The Singapore permanent resident’s case is pending.
The prosecution told the court the plan was for Zhan to buy all the houses along a certain row in East Coast Road and redevelop them into a condominium.
They added that Tan was Zhan’s associate in the latter’s property redevelopment business.

According to Tan, the estimated profit from the land redevelopment in East Coast Road was over $50 million, and he was to get 20 per cent of the profits from two of Zhan’s firms, court documents said.
In their closing submissions, deputy public prosecutors Suhas Malhotra and Louis Ngia said Zhan was a wealthy businessman who had shares in about 100 organisations in China.
He also had businesses in the steel industry in Indonesia, Laos and Thailand. At the time of the offences, his annual income was around $7 million.

Zhan became a Singapore permanent resident around 2003 or 2004 through the Economic Development Board’s global investor programme, under which he and his two brothers committed around $1.5 million as investment in Singapore, the court heard.
The DPPs told Judge Kaur: “(Zhan) was in the business of property development in Singapore. The business plan was simple: (Zhan), through his companies, would buy landed properties in Singapore, demolish the houses, develop small-scale condominiums on the land and sell the units.”
They added that P1 was worth $2.3 million and Tan paid a 10 per cent deposit of $230,000 for it on Jan 30, 2007.
The court heard that the money for the deposit was from a cheque for $170,000 issued by one of Zhan’s firms, Alphaland International.

A cashier’s order for $800,000 was also delivered to the seller’s law firm, with the money coming from one of Zhan’s companies, Xin An Technology Group.
A housing loan of nearly $1.3 million for P1 was taken in Tan’s name from a bank, said the DPPs, adding that the property was transferred to him in May 2007.
According to court documents, J1 was bought for $1.55 million in the name of Guan Aimei, the wife of one of Alphaland’s employees.
The DPPs told Judge Kaur that Guan had followed Tan’s instructions and signed the necessary purchase documents, including one involving a mortgage loan from a bank.
J1’s legal title was transferred to her on July 2, 2007.
The prosecutors said that Tan, Guan’s husband and another manager of one of Zhan’s firms agreed to set up Hwampoa for the purpose of holding the East Coast Road properties.
Tan incorporated the company on July 23, 2007, with a paid-up share capital of two $1 shares, each owned by him and Guan, court documents stated.
M1 was sold to Hwampoa for $2.4 million on Jan 9, 2008.
The prosecutors told the court: “The money to buy M1 was largely paid from bank loans, all of which were later redeemed using Alphaland’s monies.”
The DPPs said these houses were then “sold” to Zhan’s son and nephew, with Tan arranging the transactions. Court documents did not give the nationality of Zhan’s son and nephew.
However, the prosecution said Zhan had paid for the houses and they were “returned” to him.
Guan was fined $5,000 earlier.
In their sentencing submissions, DPPs Ngia and Foo Shi Hao urged the court to sentence Tan to a fine and up to four years and six months’ jail.
Stressing that Tan had repeatedly infringed Singapore’s land policy, they added: “His aim was to eventually buy up all seven properties along East Coast Road on behalf of (Zhan) for redevelopment into a condominium.”
Tan will be appealing against his conviction and sentence. His bail was set at $60,000 on March 5.

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

Jail for man with HIV who lied about past sexual activity before donating blood​

Nadine Chua

MAR 21, 2024

SINGAPORE - A man who donated blood at a Health Sciences Authority (HSA) blood donation drive lied that he never had sex with another man.
His blood test results later returned positive for the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).
On March 21, the 39-year-old Filipino pleaded guilty to one charge of providing false information in relation to donating blood under the Infectious Diseases Act. He was sentenced to three months’ jail.
Ministry of Health (MOH) prosecutor Tan Jun Ya said that on Jan 12, 2018, the man went to a church along Alexandra Road to donate blood. It was his 11th time donating blood.
Before the donation, he was required to complete a donor health assessment questionnaire and declaration form.
One of the questions on the form asked if he had ever engaged in sexual activity with another male. Another question was if, in the last 12 months, he had engaged in sexual activity with anyone he has known for less than six months.
The man answered no to both questions and declared that all his answers were true, said the MOH prosecutor.

He was also told that there was a 24-hour hotline that he could call on a confidential basis if he felt his blood should not be given to any patient, but he did not call the hotline.
On Jan 25, 2018, when he was interviewed by a doctor from the HSA Blood Services Group, he maintained that he “did not have any risk factors as he never had a sexual intercourse partner”.
On Feb 20, he was interviewed again by a public health officer from the National Centre for Infectious Diseases.
The MOH prosecutor said it was then that the man admitted that he was “forced” to engage in oral sex with a male masseur in Johor Bahru in November 2017.
In mitigation, defence lawyer Ashwin Ganapathy said that while he is cognisant his client’s conduct could have resulted in serious harm to public health and safety, there was no evidence of such harm materialising.
Mr Ganapathy said his client was working in Singapore at the time and learnt that there was a shortfall of blood supply at blood banks and wanted to help.
“Our client’s motivation in donating blood is simply that he wished to play his part in society. This was done purely out of his own goodwill to contribute and give back,” said the lawyer.
Blood donors who are found to have provided false or misleading information in relation to donating blood can be jailed for up to two years, fined up to $20,000, or both.

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

Woman who lied to police that her mobile phone was snatched gets 5 days’ jail​

Lee Yi-Ching’s lies caused the police to activate 15 fast response cars to conduct a manhunt that lasted nearly two hours. ST PHOTO: KELVIN CHNG

Shaffiq Alkhatib
Court Correspondent

MAR 21, 2024

SINGAPORE – A woman lied to the police that a man she did not know had snatched her mobile phone in Geylang when, in fact, her boyfriend was in possession of the device at the time.
The prosecution said that she dropped the device when they quarrelled, and she was aware that her boyfriend had picked it up.
Thirty-six-year-old Lee Yi-Ching’s lies caused the police to activate 15 fast response cars to conduct a manhunt that lasted nearly two hours.
Police officers were also tasked to review footage from closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras around Lorong 32 Geylang.
The truth emerged when the police interviewed the Taiwanese woman’s boyfriend who said that he had taken the mobile phone and had intended to return it to her.
Lee finally admitted to her lies on Aug 25, 2023.
Deputy Public Prosecutor John Lu told the court: “The accused confessed that she had quarrelled with her boyfriend the previous day and he wanted to return the mobile phone to her, but she was upset with him.

“The accused also clarified that her boyfriend did not snatch or steal the mobile phone from her.”
On March 21, Lee pleaded guilty to giving false information to a public servant and was sentenced to five days’ jail.
Her boyfriend told investigators during an interview that he was with her at a pub in Sembawang on Aug 24, 2023.

The couple left at around 9pm and he drove her home in a van. For reasons not disclosed in court documents, Lee, who had consumed alcohol, screamed at the man before she alighted.
The man also got out of the vehicle and was walking her home when she dropped her mobile phone.
He picked it up but Lee refused to take back the device. Instead, she screamed at him when he tried to return it to her.
Her boyfriend left the premises with the mobile phone and decided to hand it to her the next day.

Shortly after 10pm, Lee went to Geylang Neighbourhood Police Centre and told a police officer that an unknown man had snatched her mobile phone while she was on her way home in Lorong 32 Geylang.
During the investigation, officers viewed CCTV footage showing her getting out of a van with a man before she got into an argument with him.
Police officers interviewed the boyfriend at around 3.15am, and he revealed that he had kept the mobile phone after Lee refused to take it back from him.
On March 21, the DPP urged the court to sentence Lee to up to a week in jail.
Stressing that her lies had resulted in a complete and significant waste of public resources, he added: “The accused maintained the false narrative for 16 hours and 42 minutes which resulted in the accused’s boyfriend having to be inconvenienced by the surprise and unpleasantness of the police investigations.”
For giving false information to a public servant, an offender can be jailed for up to two years and fined.

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

Man accused of molesting woman during S’pore Grand Prix gets discharge amounting to acquittal​

Briton George Ernest Hyde had been accused of molesting the woman at or along Connaught Drive at around 10.30pm on Sept 16, 2023. PHOTO: SHIN MIN DAILY NEWS

Shaffiq Alkhatib
Court Correspondent

APR 03, 2024

SINGAPORE – A man accused of molesting a 20-year-old woman during the Singapore Grand Prix in 2023 was granted a discharge amounting to an acquittal on April 1.
This means that Briton George Ernest Hyde, 37, cannot be charged again with the same offence.
This came after the matter was compounded, a process that requires an agreement with the victim to have the matter compensated, usually with payment or an apology.
Before agreeing to the terms, the public prosecutor will also need to consider public interest, the circumstances of the offence and whether there are any aggravating factors.
Under the law, only certain offences can be compounded, such as causing hurt and outrage of modesty.
Without revealing details about the terms of the composition, the Attorney-General’s Chambers told The Straits Times: “Having reviewed the facts and circumstances of the case, as well as with the complainant’s agreement, the prosecution acceded to the accused’s request to have the matter compounded.
“After the composition was effected, the court granted the accused a discharge amounting to an acquittal on April 1.”

Mr Hyde had been accused of molesting the woman at or along Connaught Drive at around 10.30pm, on Sept 16, 2023.
For molestation, an offender can be jailed for up to three years, fined, caned or receive any combination of such punishments.
Mr Hyde and Irishman Alan Michael Donoghue, 37, were first hauled to court in November 2023.

Donoghue was sentenced to six months and five weeks’ jail on Feb 23 after he pleaded guilty to multiple counts of assault.
He was with Mr Hyde and two other companions at the Padang to watch the F1 race and concerts on Sept 16, 2023.
They left the Padang at around 10.30pm and started walking along Connaught Drive.

A 25-year-old man and his three companions were walking in the opposite direction at around the same time. Believing he saw Mr Hyde touching one of his companions, the man immediately confronted the Briton.
Upon seeing the confrontation, Donoghue went up to the 25-year-old man and began gesticulating aggressively at him. Donoghue then pushed the man to the ground and punched his face multiple times.
In an unrelated case, the Irishman was at East Coast Park on June 24, 2023, for a friend’s wedding party, during which he drank alcohol. He left the event after midnight and went to a nearby drop-off point to take a Grab ride home, but got into the wrong car.
Donoghue assaulted the 32-year-old driver before raining blows on a 38-year-old man who tried to intervene.
Donoghue, who was then a global team leader in a company in Singapore, was arrested at the scene soon after.

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

Jail for man involved with transnational syndicate linked to scams, evaded arrest​

Andrew Wong

APR 05, 2024

SINGAPORE – A Malaysian national who acted as a runner in Singapore for a transnational syndicate was sentenced to 10 months’ jail, after he had initially evaded arrest.
On April 5, Wong Jia Hao, 24, pleaded guilty to helping to retain the benefits of a criminal conduct for someone else.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Thaddeus Tan said at the time of the offence, Wong was employed as a bartender at V Sing Bistro in Johor Bahru.
While working at the karaoke bar, Wong was recruited by his boss, who was not named in court, to collect and transport cash withdrawn from ATMs in Singapore.
Court documents did not say where Wong was transporting the money to.
The court heard that the arrangement started in August 2023 and Wong was paid between RM200 (S$57) and RM400 for each ATM run.
DPP Tan said Wong saw this as an opportunity to make fast money to repay some of his loans. In all, he had helped his boss to make around three to four ATM runs.

On Sept 28, 2023, Wong was instructed by his boss to enter Singapore with another man, Muhamad Azizi Azroy Abd Manan.
The pair entered Singapore in Azroy’s vehicle and drove to Parkway Parade where they met Javier Tan Kai Kiat, Un Jia Zhen, and Tiew Hao Ping.
Wong was instructed by his boss to go with Tiew to the ATM to withdraw $13,000. DPP Tan said the money was traced to a malware phishing victim.

While at the ATM, it was discovered that $8,000 was missing from the account.
Wong reported it to his boss, who then instructed him to withdraw $4,400 instead and go to Bendemeer Ville, an HDB estate near Boon Keng, along with the Tiew and pass the money to another person named Vo Thi Monh Tam.
Court documents did not reveal the connection between the individuals named in the case.
DPP Tan said the $4,400 was later converted into cryptocurrencies.
Shortly after, the police arrived at Bendemeer Ville after Tiew’s friend made a police report at about 5.40pm. The court heard that Tiew had told his friend that he was being forced into a Malaysian car.

Javier, Un, Tiew, Vo and Azroy were arrested at the block. Court documents did not reveal if Javier, Un, Tiew and Vo were charged.
The prosecution said Azroy, who faced identical charges as Wong, was sentenced to 10 months’ jail on Feb 8, 2024.
Wong, who had gone to smoke alone behind the block, managed to evade arrest. He reported the incident to his boss, who instructed him to return to Malaysia.
The prosecution did not say how Wong managed to return to Malaysia.
On Oct 31, 2023, Wong’s boss instructed him to enter Singapore again to make another ATM run, but he was arrested at Woodlands Checkpoint.
DPP Tan, who sought a jail term of between 10 and 12 months, said there was a high level of sophistication in the offence given multiple syndicate members with specific roles.
He added that there were efforts made to mask the syndicate’s operations, which was evident in the exchange of the illegal proceeds from cash into cryptocurrencies, making the origin untraceable.
DPP Tan added that offenders in this case were not run-of-the-mill money mules, saying the syndicate operated overseas and recruited money mules to exploit Singapore’s financial systems.
On Feb 18, The Straits Times reported that malware scams were among the top 10 scams of concern in 2023, with 1,899 such cases reported and $34.1 million lost.
Between January and June 2023, more than 4,700 people were arrested or investigated for being money mules.

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

Man jailed for cheating more than 10 victims of over $156k in luxury-watch scam​

Shaffiq Alkhatib
Court Correspondent

APR 17, 2024

SINGAPORE – A scammer who needed money after losing heavily on online gambling hatched a plan to cheat people by pretending to sell luxury watches online.
Foo Jun Kang, 29, cheated more than 10 victims of over $156,000 in total after duping them into believing he had watches for sale.
On April 17, the Malaysian was sentenced to jail for two years and two months after he pleaded guilty to two counts of cheating involving more than $91,000. He has not made restitution to the two victims in these cases.
Four other changes were considered during sentencing.
In June 2023, Foo listed several luxury watches purportedly for sale on an online marketplace platform called Little Red Book.
Later that month, a 29-year-old man contacted him through the portal as he wanted to buy some watches.
Between June 29 and July 11, Foo offered him three Rolex timepieces worth more than $44,000 in total.

The victim, who was told that he would receive them by July 14, transferred the amount to Foo.
On Aug 19, the victim lodged a police report after he failed to receive his orders and Foo refused to refund the money.
By using a similar method, Foo cheated a 30-year-old woman of nearly $47,000 that year. She made a police report on Aug 24.
For each count of cheating, an offender can be jailed for up to 10 years and fined.

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

$45k fine for foreigner who bankrolled deals linked to purchase of 3 houses worth millions​

Zhan Guotuan had provided the money to buy three landed properties in East Coast Road worth more than $6 million in total. ST PHOTO: KELVIN CHNG

Shaffiq Alkhatib
Court Correspondent

APR 18, 2024

SINGAPORE – A Chinese national was fined $45,000 on April 18 for breaching a law under the Residential Property Act (RPA) that had been rolled out to prevent foreigners from speculating in local residential properties.
This could lead to a rise in home prices and adversely affect the interests of Singaporeans.
Zhan Guotuan, 59, a Singapore permanent resident at the time of the offences, had provided the money to buy three landed properties in East Coast Road worth more than $6 million in total.
In earlier proceedings, the court heard that none of the three houses were “non-restricted residential properties”. Therefore, foreigners were normally not entitled to buy them.
In 2007, Zhan was a shareholder of two companies – Alphaland International and Xin An Technology Group – that were in the business of property development in Singapore.
The business plan was to buy landed properties here, demolish those houses, develop condominiums on the land and sell the condominium units for profit.
On April 16, he pleaded guilty to an offence under the RPA linked to one of the houses identified in court documents as Z.

Three other charges, including two under the same Act involving the other properties, were considered during sentencing. These two houses were identified in court documents as X and Y.
The prosecution had told the court on April 16 that the “prime mover” in this case was Zhan’s trusted business associate, Tan Hui Meng, a Singaporean.
After a trial, Tan, 57, was sentenced to jail for two years, three months and three weeks in March. He was also fined $3,000.


Deputy public prosecutors Foo Shi Hao and Louis Ngia had stated in court documents: “(Tan) was the one who had conceived of the East Coast plan to purchase seven landed properties for redevelopment, and to buy (the three houses) in trust.
“(Tan) was also the one who had made the arrangements for the purchases. (Zhan’s) offending conduct was in authorising (the acquisitions)... when the plan had already been conceived.”
According to Tan, the estimated profit from the land redevelopment in East Coast Road was over $50 million, and he was to get 20 per cent of the profits from two of Zhan’s companies.
Zhan was overseas some time in or around early 2007 when Tan entered into a plan to pursue Zhan’s property development business in East Coast Road on the Chinese national’s behalf.
X and Y were then bought with Zhan’s money.

In earlier proceedings, the court heard that one of the houses was transferred to Tan in May 2007.
According to court documents, the other house was bought in the name of Guan Aimei, the wife of one of Alphaland’s employees. Its legal title was transferred to her on July 2, 2007, and she had been fined $5,000 over her role in the offence.
On July 13, 2007, Tan procured an option to buy Z. He also incorporated a firm called Hwampoa, which had no employees and no business operations. Instead, it was formed for the sole purpose of purchasing and holding the East Coast Road properties.
Zhan later authorised Hwampoa to acquire Z, which was bought for $2.4 million.
The prosecution had earlier asked for Zhan to be given the maximum fine, adding that they would have sought a jail sentence for him if not for several mitigating factors.
Among other things, Z was later sold and Hwampoa voluntarily surrendered $2.1 million. Zhan had also voluntarily surrendered another $2.3 million.
After committing the offences, Zhan was charged in a Singapore district court in 2017 before he returned to China.
He was overseas when he had a warrant of arrest issued against him in 2022. He finally returned here on March 1, 2024.

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

Man who wore wife’s dress and brandished knife at store cashier in robbery attempt jailed, caned​

Mahmoud Abdeltawwab Riad Abdelhak was sentenced to two years and six months’ jail and six strokes of the cane. PHOTOS: COURT DOCUMENTS

Nadine Chua

APR 23, 2024

SINGAPORE – A man who wore his wife’s dress and brandished a knife at a 74-year-old cashier while attempting to rob a minimart was sentenced on April 23.
Mahmoud Abdeltawwab Riad Abdelhak, 39, who pleaded guilty to an attempted robbery charge and a theft charge, was sentenced to two years and six months in jail and six strokes of the cane.
On July 15, 2023, around 1.20am, Mahmoud, an Egyptian and a Singapore permanent resident, entered a 24-hour store in Toa Payoh wearing his wife’s black dress, her headscarf, two grey arm sleeves and a black mask.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Huo Jiongrui said the offender had intended to rob the store without being identified and was armed with a kitchen knife he brought from home.
As the cashier was seated at the counter reading a newspaper, Mahmoud walked behind her, brandished the knife near her face and told her not to shout.
Shocked, the cashier turned around and, upon seeing him, she screamed. The DPP said Mahmoud was startled by her screams and fled the scene.
To evade detection, he threw his wife’s clothes and the kitchen knife into two rubbish bins that were about 200m apart, the prosecution said.

He was arrested the same day and his wife’s clothes were found in the rubbish bins.
As to the theft charge, Mahmoud stole two rings in November 2022 from his sister-in-law, who was living with him and his wife at the time.
His sister-in-law shared a bedroom with her husband in the flat, and kept the door to the room locked when they were out.
But Mahmoud used a spare key to access the room and stole her engagement ring valued at $1,300 and wedding ring worth $1,899. He pawned both rings for a total of $247.
When his sister-in-law realised her rings were missing, she suspected that Mahmoud had a spare key to the room.

She installed a CCTV camera with a built-in speaker in the bedroom without him knowing.
When he entered the room again and rummaged through their belongings, his sister-in-law, who had been watching him on the camera’s live feed on her mobile phone, asked what he was doing through the speaker.
He immediately left the bedroom. His sister-in-law subsequently lodged a police report.
Seeking 31 to 35 months’ jail and six strokes of the cane, DPP Huo said that in relation to the attempted robbery offence, Mahmoud showed little remorse. “During investigations, he blatantly lied that he was out for a jog at the time of the offence despite the evidence against him.” The offence was premeditated, as Mahmoud took pains to dress up in his wife’s clothing to avoid being identified.
Those convicted of attempted robbery may face a jail term of between two and seven years and at least six strokes of the cane.