May 4, 2011
Retiree jailed, fined, for illegal 4D racket
By Khushwant Singh
A RETIRED fishmonger was on Wednesday jailed a month and fined $50,000 for helping a crime syndicate run an illegal lottery for more than a year.
Police had raided the East Coast Road flat of Teo Miang Chiang, 65, in the afternoon of Dec 4 2010, but the evidence they were looking for was in his Toyota Altis car.
From there, officers seized lists of bets placed on 4-digit numbers, more than $1,100 in cash, a calculator and a fax machines.
After his arrest, Teo admitted to working for an illegal syndicate that ran a public lottery since late 2009.
Teo had similar previous convictions for which he was fined $60,000 and jailed six months in 1990.
Asking the court to impose a heavy fine and a short jail term, defence counsel R.S. Wijaya said that Teo went back to work as a runner for the syndicate as he wanted to help his daughter financially. She is stricken with terminal breast cancer.