Ah nehs...

[LITTLEREDDOT]

Man jailed for conspiring to steal wires from empty junior colleges, cost TPJC S$840,000 in repairs​

The former Jurong Junior College and Tampines Junior College. (Images: TODAY, Google Street View)

Lydia Lam​

@LydiaLamCNA
21 Sep 2021

SINGAPORE: In the dead of night in January last year, three men went to the empty Jurong Junior College (JJC) campus and stole S$20,000 worth of copper wires.
When the COVID-19 "circuit breaker" was in place a few months later in April, the trio went to Tampines Junior College (TPJC) and stripped it of electrical cables, costing the JC S$840,000 in repairs.
The 1,767kg of cables from the campuses were sold for about S$7,500 which was shared among them.
The three men were arrested on Apr 23, 2020, with one man identified through DNA analysis of his saliva left on a bottle at JJC.
One of them, 34-year-old Bangladeshi national Jan Shak Mohabbat, was sentenced on Tuesday (Sep 21) to two years and 10 months' jail.
He pleaded guilty to four counts of housebreaking to commit theft of copper wires and electrical cables at the two JC campuses, together with co-accused Miah Shobus and Om Shakti Tiwari.
Another eight charges were considered in sentencing.

THE FIRST OF FOUR JUNIOR COLLEGE BREAK-INS​

The court heard that the trio agreed to steal copper wires from the vacant JJC campus and sell them at recycling shops for profit.
On a night in mid-January last year, Tiwari drove Miah and Jan to JJC in a rented car. Jan and Miah climbed over the perimeter fence while Tiwari waited for them in the car.
Jan and Miah used large wire cutters they brought with them to cut copper wires in the JC's main consumer switch room after breaking the room's padlock and loaded the wires into Tiwari's car.
They returned to JJC on the night of Jan 20 and stole more copper wires. Tiwari sold the wires at recycling shops and split the money with the other two, but court documents did not indicate how much they earned from this sale.
About two months after this, the men decided to break into the vacant TPJC campus and steal electrical cables.
On Apr 8, 2020, when the circuit breaker forbidding non-essential outings in a bid to curb the COVID-19 pandemic had just begun, Tiwari drove the trio to TPJC in a rented van.
Jan and Miah had cut a hole in the fence weeks before in preparation, and they entered the premises through the hole while Tiwari waited in the van.
The duo cut electrical cables from around the TPJC compound, including cables from the ceilings, electrical risers and the air handling unit room.
They then loaded the cables into the van, and Tiwari drove off with them. That same day, Tiwari sold 994kg of electrical cables at a recycling shop and earned S$3,976. He paid some of this to Miah and Jan.
The three men returned to TPJC at about 3am on Apr 17, 2020 and Jan and Miah stole more electrical cables while Tiwari waited in his van.
Tiwari later sold 773 of electrical cables to a recycling shop for S$3,478 and paid some money to Miah and Jan.

TPJC REPAIRS COST S$840,000, JJC LOST S$20,000 WORTH OF WIRES​

The total cost to reinstate the stolen electrical cables at TPJC and other costs including repair works for the ceilings and supplying new switch gear amounted to S$840,000. While there are no numbers for the repair costs for JJC, about 1,000m of wire worth S$20,000 was stolen from the campus, the prosecutor said.
The police arrested all three men on Apr 23, 2020, after identifying Jan through DNA analysis of saliva he left behind on a bottle at JJC, and tracing Miah through Housing Board police camera images. Eyewitnesses had also spotted Tiwari's car outside the campuses.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Edwin Soh sought 34 months' jail for Jan, pointing to how significant the damage caused to property was.
Aggravating factors include premeditation, damage to property and the fact that both JCs were properties owned by the Ministry of Education, with public funds utilised to repair the damage caused.
Jan also reoffended while out on bail, as he was found with suspected stolen copper wire after being charged for the JC crimes.
Jan, Tiwari and Miah had been set to go to trial on Monday, but Jan decided to plead guilty. The cases for Miah and Tiwari have been sent back for pre-trial conferences.
In January this year, Bangladeshi national Rasel was given 17 months' jail for his role in a conspiracy to steal wires from Singapore Chinese Girls' Primary School during the circuit breaker. The subsequent repairs cost S$480,000.
In April, Bangladeshi national Islam Dwin was given a year and eight months' jail for his role in wire theft break-ins at Hong Kah Secondary School, TPJC and a factory.

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

Insurance agent jailed 17 months for cheating S$58,000 from longtime friends, clients

By LOUISA TANG
Published SEPTEMBER 24, 2021

Ili Nadhirah Mansor/TODAY
Selvarajulu Subramaniam outside the State Courts on Sept 24, 2021.

• Selvarajulu Subramaniam worked for Great Eastern Life Assurance at the time of his offences
• He cheated two clients through a fake “refunding” policy
• He also lied to a friend of 15 years that he had lung cancer and needed money to foot his medical bills
• He has since made restitution of S$10,800

SINGAPORE — A 56-year-old insurance agent was sentenced to one year and five months’ jail on Friday (Sept 24) for cheating about S$58,000 from longtime friends he had taken on as clients.

Selvarajulu Subramaniam lied to one victim, who had been his friend for 15 years, that he had lung cancer in order to get S$14,000 from the other man.

Selvarajulu had earlier pleaded guilty to four cheating charges, with another seven similar charges — including criminal breach of trust as an agent — taken into consideration for sentencing.

The Singaporean worked for Great Eastern Life Assurance as a financial advisor at the time of his offences in 2019.

The court heard that among Selvarajulu’s four victims, one of them — Mr G Ravichandran, 56, — had known him for more than 20 years and was his client as well.

The two men met in April 2018 to review a loan policy. During this meeting, Selvarajulu told Mr Ravichandran that he had a “refunding plan” which would let the other man reinstate the cash value of an insurance policy he held with Great Eastern.

Selvarajulu then got Mr Ravichandran to sign a form which would purportedly allow him to receive S$11,700 from the firm, and told him to transfer S$10,200 to Selvarajulu’s bank account once he received the money from Great Eastern.

This meant Mr Ravichandran would get a net refund of S$1,500.

On May 3, 2018, Mr Ravichandran followed his friend’s instructions after receiving a cheque for S$11,700 from Great Eastern.

But a few weeks later, Great Eastern sent him a letter saying he had successfully applied for a second and separate loan policy for that sum.

After making some checks, Mr Ravichandran realised the form Selvarajulu had given him to sign was for a second loan policy. Selvarajulu had also misappropriated the S$10,200 that Mr Ravichandran transferred to him.

The victim then lodged a police report on Oct 15, 2019.

THREE OTHER VICTIMS

Selvarajulu targeted his other victims in a similar fashion.

He cheated S$13,700 from another friend, Madam Shahariah Yusoff, whom he had known for 30 years. He had also been the 55-year-old woman’s financial advisor since 1999.

In September 2017, they met to review her insurance policies when he told her of the same “refunding" policy.

He said that Great Eastern offered this for a term of two years, and she could expect to obtain about S$16,000 as investment returns to be credited into her bank account if she put in a sum of S$13,700.

Mdm Shahariah agreed and signed a form Selvarajulu gave her.

She then contacted him two years later after the two-year term was supposed to have elapsed. He had made two bank transfers totalling S$3,037 but this fell far short of what he had promised.

She approached Great Eastern representatives on her own accord and was told Selvarajulu had lied to her. She then lodged a police report as well.

Selvarajulu also told another victim —Mr Muhammad Juffri Sayadi, 62 — that he was required to pay penalty fees to keep the policies that he and his family held with Great Eastern active, as Mr Juffri had omitted to make payments on multiple monthly payment cycles.

Over multiple occasions from April to July 2019, Mr Juffri transferred about S$8,000 to Selvarajulu’s bank account.

He discovered this was wrong only after being assigned a new financial advisor, who told him to lodge a police report.

Finally, Selvarajulu cheated Mr Vadivelu Satchithanant Venkita Ramanan, 50, of S$14,575 by lying that he had been diagnosed with lung cancer and needed money for his hospital bills.

The two men had known each other for about 15 years. Selvarajulu claimed he was unable to reach his wife, who was purportedly abroad, to pay the bills and that he could not do it himself because he had been warded.

Mr Vadivelu made four bank transfers to Selvarajulu in January 2019. He subsequently filed a police report two months later.

Selvarajulu has made restitution of S$10,800 to date.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Ong Xin Jie sought the sentence imposed, saying it had to “sufficiently reflect the predatory character of the accused’s cheating spree”.

Selvarajulu could have been jailed for up to 10 years and fined for each cheating offence.

 

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More than 2 years' jail for man who abducted wife and threatened to kill her​

Shaffiq Alkhatib
Court Correspondent

Sep 28, 2021

SINGAPORE - A man who threatened to kill his estranged wife after abducting and dousing her with petrol was on Wednesday (Sept 29)sentenced to two years, two months and six weeks' jail.
The offender, Murugan Nondoh, now 40, also threatened to kill himself.
Police officers arrested him at the Tuas Checkpoint and rescued his wife, Krishnaveny Subramaniam, 40, at around 11pm on July 2, 2019.
The Malaysian couple were on the way back to Johor Baru at the time.
Murugan, who appeared in a Singapore district court via video-link on Wednesday, pleaded guilty last week to multiple charges over offences that included abduction, criminal intimidation and assault.
In sentencing the offender, District Judge Kessler Soh noted that he had committed a "brazen act" by abducting his wife in public view.

The court heard that the couple were married in 2007 and lived in Johor Baru.
The marriage soured, and police learnt in their investigations that Murugan was physically abusive to his wife.
In March 2019, Murugan accused his wife of having an affair, which she denied.
Later that month, she moved into her mother's home in Johor Baru and filed for divorce.

Murugan tried to reconcile with his wife but she refused to get back together with him.
In June that year, he found out from his sister that Ms Krishnaveny had managed to secure a job in Singapore.
He started turning up at her workplace in Woodlands soon after.
On July 2, 2019, Ms Krishnaveny was on her mobile phone with her niece in Malaysia while walking out of her workplace when Murugan rode towards her on his motorcycle from behind.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Delicia Tan had said: "The accused used his arm to grab her neck from behind. The victim struggled to break free and shouted for help while crying... She also dropped her handphone."
The call was not disconnected and Ms Krishnaveny's niece heard the commotion between the couple. She then told her mother, who alerted the police in Singapore.
Meanwhile, Murugan grabbed and forced Ms Krishnaveny to go with him after emptying a bottle of petrol on her and threatening to set her on fire.
Over the next five hours, they rode around aimlessly before finally stopping at a cemetery in Old Choa Chu Kang Road.
Throughout the evening, he told his wife multiple times that he would burn her and kill himself afterwards.
But they talked and Murugan eventually agreed to take his wife back to Malaysia.
While at the Tuas Checkpoint, police moved in to rescue Ms Krishnaveny and arrest Murugan.
She was later found to have bruises and petroleum product ingestion at Ng Teng Fong General Hospital.
For abduction, an offender can be jailed for up to seven years and fined or caned, or receive any combination of such punishments.
Helplines
National Care Hotline: 1800-202-6868 (8am to midnight)
MENTAL WELL-BEING
• Institute of Mental Health's Mental Health Helpline: 6389-2222 (24 hours)
• Samaritans of Singapore: 1800-221-4444 (24 hours) / 1-767 (24 hours)
• Singapore Association for Mental Health: 1800-283-7019
• Silver Ribbon Singapore: 6386-1928
• Tinkle Friend: 1800-274-4788 and www.tinklefriend.sg
• Community Health Assessment Team 6493-6500/1 and www.chat.mentalhealth.sg
COUNSELLING
• TOUCHline (Counselling): 1800-377-2252
• TOUCH Care Line (for seniors, caregivers): 6804-6555
• Care Corner Counselling Centre: 1800-353-5800
ONLINE RESOURCES
• mindline.sg
• My Mental Health
• Fei Yue's Online Counselling Service

 

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7 weeks' jail for recalcitrant offender who assaulted, hurled racial insults at SG clean ambassador​

Shaffiq Alkhatib
Court Correspondent

Oct 4, 2021

SINGAPORE - A recalcitrant offender who had earlier been released from prison reoffended and punched an SG clean ambassador at Maxwell Food Centre after the latter told him to wear his mask properly.
In December last year, K. Chandra Segaran was sentenced to five weeks' jail for assault.
The driver was at the eatery in April when he assaulted his latest victim, Mr Brandon Ong, 28. Chandra also hurled obscenity-laced racial insults at him.
The 54-year-old Singaporean was on Friday (Oct 1) sentenced to seven weeks' jail after he pleaded guilty to one count each of assault, harassment and an offence under the Covid-19 (Temporary Measures) Act.
As an SG clean ambassador, Mr Ong was tasked to ensure that people at the food centre in Kadayanallur Street near Chinatown adhered to safe distancing measures.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Joseph Gwee said that at around 1pm on April 18, Mr Ong and an auxiliary police officer spotted Chandra walking around the eatery with his mask below his chin.

He was not consuming any food or drinks at the time. Mr Ong asked Chandra to wear his mask properly but the older man ignored him.
When Mr Ong repeated his request, Chandra punched the SG clean ambassador once on the left side of his face and verbally abused him.
The auxiliary police officer's body-worn camera managed to record Chandra's antics.
The court heard that Mr Ong did not suffer any visible injuries after the attack and did not seek medical attention.
The auxiliary policeman alerted the police and officers arrived at the scene.
Despite this, Chandra still refused to don his mask properly and was later arrested.
The DPP said: "Whilst the victim was not a law enforcement officer or public servant in the strict sense, the victim was merely trying to request that the accused abide by the law.
"From the footage, we can hear that the accused had defiantly told the victim and the witness that he would give them trouble if they wanted it. The accused's reaction was completely unwarranted and occurred after he had punched the victim on the face."
For assault, an offender can be jailed for up to three years and fined up to $5,000.

 

[mudhatter]

should have created another one for the slanty chinks
would've been even longer thread than this

 

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9 months' jail for man who assaulted relative, caused severe injuries to right eye​

Shaffiq Alkhatib
Court Correspondent

Oct 6, 2021

SINGAPORE - In a fit of rage, a man used an umbrella to repeatedly strike a distant relative of his on the head until the umbrella broke.
After that, Karuppiah Jeyakkumar, now 44, hit Mr Alangam Pillai Rajendran, 55, with a slipper twice and chased him away.
The older man was later found to have severe injuries to his right eye that required extensive surgical repair.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Thiam Jia Min said: "As such, his vision in the right eye was reduced for a significant amount of time and he needed to use his eye drops for a prolonged period of time.
"His right eye experienced significant discomfort and his activities of daily living might be affected."
Karuppiah, who is an Indian national and a Singapore permanent resident, was on Wednesday (Oct 6) sentenced to nine months' jail after he pleaded guilty to voluntarily causing grievous hurt to Mr Alangam. The attacker was also ordered to pay $315.70 in compensation.

Court documents do not disclose how exactly these two men are related to each other.
The DPP said that Mr Alangam's wife owned a provision shop in Clementi and Karuppiah had contributed cash to set it up. Despite this, he was not registered as its co-owner.
Around September 2017, the couple told Karuppiah that they wanted to sell the shop and share the proceeds of its sale with him.
Karuppiah, however, wanted them to sell the shop to him and the involved parties could not reach a firm agreement on the matter.

Mr Alangam later met a potential buyer outside the shop at around 8.45pm on Oct 2, 2017.
Karuppiah turned up minutes later as he had been expected to hand Mr Alangam an account book and a set of keys to the shop.
The court heard that he became agitated when he saw Mr Alangam and the potential buyer.

Karuppiah then assaulted his relative with the umbrella and slipper before chasing him away.
The potential buyer called the police during the commotion and Mr Alangam took a taxi to West Coast Neighbourhood Police Post.
An ambulance later took him to the National University Hospital where he was found with an injured right eye.
The DPP said: "As a result of the eye injury, the victim suffered from blurred vision and pain in his right eye such that he was unable to sleep well at night, work during the day and exercise each morning as he was accustomed to doing."
A doctor's note on Oct 4, 2017, stated that the eye injury required regular monitoring and hospital visits.
The doctor also discouraged Mr Alangam from performing tasks such as driving and operating machinery.
He was given 148 days of medical leave and was unable to work during this time. He also forked out $7,564 in medical bills.
Karuppiah's bail was set at $10,000 on Wednesday and he was ordered to surrender himself at the State Courts on Nov 5 to begin serving his sentence.
For voluntarily causing grievous hurt, an offender can be jailed for up to 10 years and fined or caned.

 

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Customer & Springleaf Prata Place get into week-long dispute over 1 cup of lime juice​

Hitting a sour note.
Karen Lui

Springleaf Prata Place has been popular with foodies for their innovative take on a traditional food, churning out newfangled flavours such as the Murtaburger, Prata Alfredo, and most recently, the Praclette.


However, one outlet in the prata chain recently found itself at the centre of attention for the wrong reasons after a customer complained about a negative dining experience and how Springleaf's attempt at service recovery went wry due to miscommunication.
While the customer's first post about the complaint has been deleted, a follow-up post remains available on Complaint Singapore's Facebook page.
Here's what went down.

Initial visit​

On Sep. 26, customer Ericaa Koh noticed a poster advertising Prata Alfredo with Lime Juice for S$10.80 at the Springleaf Prata Place outlet at Jalan Tua Kong and decided to check it out.
Here's what the poster looks like:

For the uninitiated, Prata Alfredo was first released in 2017 as part of the chain's Ultimate Hawker Fest Series and has remained a permanent item on their menu since.

It consists of rosemary smoked chicken, button mushrooms, Mozzarella cheese, and creamy Alfredo sauce wrapped in a crispy prata.

Prata Alfredo. Photo from Springleaf Prata Place's Facebook page.

However, the customer's meal was served without lime juice.

Lime juice. Photo by Springleaf Prata Place.

Promotion may have ended​

When Koh asked a staff member about the missing beverage when the food was served, she was told that the promotion may have ended.
In response, Koh pointed out that the poster was still displayed at the window of the shop.
The staff said she would check with her boss and get back to Koh.
However, Koh claimed that the employee did not get back to her and she did not receive the glass of lime juice eventually.
Koh also added that they were made to move to a smaller table during their mealtime in order to let a larger group of diners dine-in.
The smaller space caused Koh and her partner to carry their bag and backpack while having their meal.
According to a screen shot of Koh's original Facebook post, Koh's dispute with them stemmed from their refusal to honour a promotion deal that might have already ended, but was still advertised on a poster in the restaurant.

Screenshot of Koh's first post (that is no longer available) by Springleaf Prata Place.

Screenshot of Springleaf's response to Koh's first post by Koh (left) and the full version of Springleaf's response by Springleaf Prata Place (right).

Springleaf Prata Place apologised​

To express their apologies, Springleaf offered to serve the "whole meal, inclusive of the lime juice" to her and her partner on their next visit.
In addition, Springleaf also apologised on behalf of their staff who made Koh shift tables during her meal.

Subsequent visit​

Taking up the offer to make up to her for her negative dining experience, Koh paid another visit to the prata eatery during lunchtime on Oct. 2.
According to Koh, she was apparently told to delete her initial post about her negative experience at Springleaf before her meal was served.
As she wanted to maintain a cordial atmosphere, she obliged with the request while "smiling and trying to make friendly talk with the manager, Shalom".
However, she claimed that he was not smiling nor interested in making small talk.
Instead, she observed that he behaved in a business-like manner and invited her to take a seat while the food was prepared.
Upon being seated, she received a serving of lime juice, followed by a Prata Alfredo.
Koh then enquired if that was all, to which Shalom asked if she wished to order anything else.
Puzzled, Koh replied with a rhetorical question, asking if he was the one who had invited her back for a meal.
According to Koh, Shalom allegedly responded by raising his voice, saying that they only owed her a cup of lime juice but he had thrown in a free Alfredo and demanded to know what else she wanted.
His words made Koh feel "like a beggar" and prompted her to show him what she was offered in writing.
However, Shalom claimed he was not aware of it.
According to Koh, Shalom had promised to treat her and her partner to a meal comprising "anything we want".
This conversation allegedly took place over the phone after the first complaint was lodged.
Nonetheless, Koh and her partner made no demands for it.
While Koh and her partner were eating, she claimed that Shalom was staring and aiming his phone camera at them.
Feeling very uncomfortable by this, they approached him to ask if he was taking videos or photographs of them.
However, he abruptly turned to talk to his staff and said he was too busy to talk, despite allegedly staring and aiming his phone at them blatantly, Koh added.
She then politely asked to see his phone gallery to verify that she was not filmed or photographed without her permission.
However, he simply "turned away and ignored" her.
In hopes of seeking assistance to resolve the situation, Koh texted Springleaf Prata Place to no avail -- her message was read but apparently ignored.
Due to the tension and hostility of the situation, Koh called the police who arrived at the scene and "escorted" her and her partner out of the restaurant.
Koh ended her second Facebook post by insisting that she would never set foot into Springleaf Prata Place again.
Check out the full version of her second post here:

Screenshot by Springleaf Prata Place.

As comments have been disabled, Springleaf Prata Place was unable to respond directly to the second post.

Springleaf's response​

Speaking to Mothership, Springleaf Prata Place founder SV Gunalan shared more information about what he knew about the incident.

Shifting tables​

According to Gunalan, Koh entered the restaurant as a dining party of two at 9:55am on her first visit to the restaurant.
They were initially seated at a table for four but were asked to move to a table for two at 10:03am as a dining party of three had arrived and were waiting outside to dine in.
Gunalan said Koh and her partner had not ordered any food at that time and only did so at 10:05am.
A Springleaf representative also confirmed that the dining party of three were not friends of the restaurant, contrary to what Koh suggested in her initial post.
However, Gunalan acknowledged that due to the lack of space available for the bags, Koh and her partner had to consume their meal with their bag on their lap and backpack on their shoulders.

Missing lime juice​

The founder also reiterated that the lime juice was Springleaf's fault, hence they invited the duo to return another day to have the same meal again.
Following the incident during the first visit, Gunalan confirmed that Shalom had spoken with Koh on the phone but cannot verify what was said.
Gunalan also confirmed that Shalom had gone ahead to ask Koh to remove her first post without consulting the Springleaf headquarters.
When the founder found out about it, he felt there was no need to do so.
"There's no need to take down... We made a mistake, we stand up and own up," and told Shalom that he didn't have to do that next time.
He also admitted that it was their fault that a miscommunication took place between the headquarters and outlet partner on the day of the customers' return.
"We wanted to give her the whole meal as a replacement, which is an [Prata] Alfredo (S$10.90), a lime juice (S$2.20), and a red bean prata (S$3.90)."
However, they did not communicate it to the outlet partner properly who interpreted it as just the Prata Alfredo and the lime juice, causing the customer to ask about the red bean prata, he added.
Gunalan said once Shalom knew about it, he said he would fetch the red bean prata.

Red bean prata. Photo by Springleaf Prata Place.

Alleged shouting and photography/ filming​

In response to Koh's allegation that outlet manager Shalom shouted at her, Gunalan said it is "impossible to tell" if there was any shouting as the in-store CCTV footage has no sound recording function.
However, he acknowledged that Shalom is "a big guy", calling him his "tallest partner", and "his voice is naturally a bit loud", hence he may be perceived as an intimidating figure.
Gunalan also addressed the allegations that Shalom had stared and aimed his phone at her.
The founder of the prata business said that it lasted less than a minute according to the CCTV footage.
While Gunalan conceded that Shalom could have still done it in less than a minute, he revealed that when the police arrived, they checked and no photographs were found.
Gunalan also confirmed that no statements were taken down and no police reports were made.
Gunalan also clarified that when Koh observed that Shalom "suddenly turned to talk to his staff and claimed that he was too busy to talk to" them, Shalom was handling a complaint due to a delay in a food delivery order.
From what they've seen in the CCTV footage, Gunalan said Koh was not "escorted" out but was just "chit-chatting to the police" and she just walked out with her partner.
In the CCTV footage that has been seen by Mothership, two police officers arrived at the scene -- one approached Koh and her partner, while the other approached the staff at the counter.
As Koh and her partner walked out of the store, the two officers remained in the shop to speak to Shalom, after which they left.

Improvements to service​

Gunalan shared some adjustments to their service that they have decided to implement moving forward.
The chain will not replace meals and instead offer vouchers that are worth more than what the customer's initial order was, as well as allowing them to order what they like on their subsequent visit.
Springleaf Prata Place will also be more careful with their promotional posters that are outdated and admitted that it's their fault for not crossing out the lime juice part.
Gunalan confirmed the promotion dated back to August 2017 when the Alfredo Prata was first launched.
He clarified that they'd typically offer a free beverage as part of a promotion for a month when they launch a new item every National Day.
Back then, they gave out lime juice but recently, they've switched it to teh tarik.
Gunalan confirmed that they have since rectified the information on the poster to accurately state that there is no free lime juice and also checked with all the outlets islandwide to make sure the posters reflect accurate information.
They will also use hanging stickers for such promotions from now on so they can easily remove the stickers when the promotion ends.
They also admitted that the waitress who attended to Koh should have got back to her on time. "If she had done that, I think the problem would have been solved there and then," he said.

 

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Man jailed for being drunk in public, hurling a racial insult at nurse​

Shaffiq Alkhatib
Court Correspondent

Oct 7, 2021

SINGAPORE - A man jailed for public drunkenness in May reoffended soon after his release.
On Thursday (Oct 7), Ganesan Samythurai, 55, was sentenced to 11 weeks' jail after he pleaded guilty to the offence, as well as six other charges, including mischief and harassment, which he committed while out on bail.
The Singaporean was sentenced to two weeks' jail in May for public drunkenness.
The court heard that "almost immediately" after his release, he was seen intoxicated at the void deck of a block of flats in Pending Road, near Bukit Panjang Road, at around 7pm on May 25.
He was rowdy and challenged a passer-by to a fight. He also kicked the dustbin there.
Ganesan's older sister spotted him at the void deck and ran home. She locked herself in her flat and called the police.

Ganesan was outside her flat when officers arrived. They saw that he was not wearing a mask. Court documents do not state what happened next.
On June 25, he was out on bail when he used a brick to smash the windows of his sister's flat when no one was home.
He then entered the unit and destroyed items including a television set, causing $6,000 in damages.
A neighbour alerted the police and officers soon arrived at the scene. Undeterred, Ganesan ignored them and continued destroying items in the flat.

He was arrested and released on bail.
On July 6, he went to Changi General Hospital at around noon to seek treatment for swelling on his left calf.
He insisted on smoking there and threw a tantrum when told that he could not do so. He then kicked a hospital bed and shouted vulgarities.
Witnessing the commotion, senior nurse Mohamed Azmi Missuan, 35, approached Ganesan but was met with verbal abuse and a racial insult.
Mr Azmi then alerted the police and officers arrived at around 2.15pm.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Goh Yong Ngee said: "They observed that the accused was hurling vulgarities at the hospital staff, specifically the nurses and auxiliary police officers. The accused's wound was dressed and bandaged.
"The accused was also discharged... However, while collecting his medication, the accused started shouting vulgarities and refused to accept the discharge summary or medication."
Ganesan was then advised to leave the hospital and go home to rest. He refused to leave the premises and was later arrested.
In unrelated cases in June, the court heard that he also damaged a crow trap and yanked off the left side mirror of a parked car.
These acts led to more than $1,000 in damages. He has made no restitution.

 

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5 months' jail for man who kicked pregnant girlfriend and spat at Aetos officer​

Wong Shiying

Oct 11, 2021

SINGAPORE - Upset with his pregnant girlfriend for refusing to move in with him, Goppinath Rajah assaulted her at the secondary school where she worked as an administrative officer.
Despite knowing that she was around four months pregnant at the time, Goppinath, 29, kicked her in the abdomen, pulled her hair and dragged her along the floor.
He was sentenced to five months jail on Monday (Oct 11) after pleading guilty to five charges including voluntarily causing hurt, using criminal force to deter a public servant from doing his duty, using threatening words against a public servant and acting as a member of an unlawful society.
Another seven similar charges were taken into consideration for sentencing.
The court heard that Goppinath, who was a commercial diver at the time, had an argument with his girlfriend over the phone on Aug 4 this year when she rejected his offer to live together.
Furious, he went to her workplace - a secondary school in the west of Singapore - and a scuffle broke out.

He pushed her to the ground, kicked and punched her adomen and dragged her along the ground.
Staff from the school who overheard the commotion intervened and called the police.
The 30-year-old victim, who had a head injury and multiple bruises on her body, sought medical help at National University Hospitaland checks there determined the fetus was unharmed.When officers detained Goppinath at a block of flats near the school, he turned aggressive and shouted expletives at them.
In an earlier incident in December 2019, Goppinath made gang hand signs and shouted gang slogans at a funeral procession. Police officers initially let him off with a warning when he denied his actions but as he was walking away, Goppinath made another gang sign and shouted a gang-related phrase at the officers. He was detained immediately.
Later that day, he spat at an Aetosofficer and hurled expletives at him while being escorted at the Police Cantonment Complex.
Seeking at least 23 weeks' jail, Deputy Public Prosecutor Melissa Lee said Goppinath showed a "worrying pattern of abusive behaviour".
"The fact that he kicked and punched the victim's abdominal area knowing that she was pregnant with his child warrants an uplift in sentence. His conduct was persistent and continued even after the (school staff) stepped in," said the DPP.
In mitigation, Goppinath's lawyer Amarick Gill said his client had written a letter of apology to his girlfriend and was remorseful towards his victims.
For voluntarily causing hurt, Goppinath could have been jailed up to three years and fined up to $5,000.
The maximum penalty for using criminal force on a public servant carries a jail term of up to four years and a fine.

 

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Policewoman jailed five months for forging statement of alleged molestation victim​

Kalaivani Kalimuthu, who has been suspended from the Singapore Police Force since Sept 14, 2017, outside the court after she was found guilty of committing forgery on Dec 27, 2018.ST PHOTO: WONG KWAI CHOW

Shaffiq Alkhatib
Court Correspondent

JAN 9, 2019


SINGAPORE - When a senior police officer was unable to meet an alleged molestation victim to interview her, she decided to speed up the investigation by forging the woman's statement.
Kalaivani Kalimuthu's account gave the impression that the alleged victim did not mind being touched and recommended that no further action be taken.
But when the woman was interviewed later, she denied making the statement - and the senior staff sergeant's deceit was uncovered.
Kalaivani was sentenced to five months' jail on Tuesday (Jan 8) after pleading guilty last month to a forgery charge.
She was an investigation officer at Ang Mo Kio Police Division between September 2011 and November 2016.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Stephanie Chew said the alleged victim had lodged a police report and provided a statement on March 27, 2016, saying she had been molested.

Police officer forged statement of alleged victim of molestation, portraying her as willing party​

She was supposed to interview the woman but "encountered difficulty in arranging an interview", the court heard.
She then forged the statement in her office in November 2016. In the statement, Kalaivani said that the woman had also touched the alleged molester and did not mind being touched herself.
Kalaivani forged the woman's signature then forwarded the investigation papers to her officer-in-charge on Nov 25, 2016, recommending that no further action be taken .
The case was later reassigned to Senior Investigation Officer (SIO) Pang Shijie.
In December 2016, the investigation papers were sent to the Attorney-General's Chambers (AGC), recommending that the alleged victim be warned for providing false information.
But the AGC directed the police to record a further statement from the woman, who denied making the earlier statement when SIO Pang interviewed her in June 2017.
There was also no record of the woman visiting the station on the date Kalaivani purportedly recorded her statement.
Kalaivani has been suspended from the Singapore Police Force (SPF) since Sept 14, 2017.
In a statement, the SPF said other cases which she had been involved in were relooked to determine whether she had acted in a manner prejudicial to investigations. The statement added that officers are expected to uphold the law and maintain the highest standards of conduct and integrity. "We deal severely with officers who break the law, including charging them in court."
For forgery, Kalaivani could have been jailed for up to four years and fined.

 

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Ex-employee of semiconductor giant Micron fined, penalised for receiving bribes​

The CPIB said Karu Jeyamani Karrupiah had received bribes totalling $16,000 on nine occasions.PHOTO: CORRUPT PRACTICES INVESTIGATION BUREAU
Isabelle Liew

Oct 20, 2021

SINGAPORE - A former employee of semiconductor firm Micron was on Wednesday (Oct 20) sentenced to a fine of $16,000 and a penalty of $5,000 for receiving bribes.
The Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) said that Karu Jeyamani Karrupiah, 43, had received bribes totalling $16,000 on nine occasions between Nov 17, 2016, and July 11 last year.
The Malaysian was at the time a senior technical specialist at Micron Semiconductor Asia Operations and responsible for overseeing a variety of maintenance works for Micron's mechanical-related systems.
Karu accepted the bribes from Veerasamy Raghu, the then director of construction firm Royal Quality Management (RQM), in exchange for advancing RQM's business interests with Micron.
RQM had been one of Micron's contractors since 2013.
Raghu sensed an opportunity when Karu became a father and around Nov 17, 2016, offered him money to advance RQM's business interests. Karu agreed to Raghu's offer and received $1,000 from him in his bank account.

On eight occasions between June 2017and July 11 last year, Karu received bribes from Raghu ranging from $1,000 to $4,000.
In return, Raghu expected Karu to continue engaging RQM for maintenance works such as scaffolding works, changing of air-conditioning filter works, and cleaning scrubber packings for Micron.
CPIB said investigations showed that from 2016 to 2020, there was an increase in the number of assignments which Micron, through Karu, awarded to RQM.
Karu was charged on Sept 2 under the Prevention of Corruption Act.
Anyone who is convicted of corruption can be jailed for up to five years and fined up to $100,000.
CPIB said Singapore has a strict zero-tolerance approach towards corruption, and that companies are strongly advised to put in place robust procedures in areas such as procurement and internal audit to prevent falling victim to corrupt acts by their employees.
Guidance for companies on how to prevent corruption can be found in Pact: A Practical Anti-Corruption Guide for Businesses in Singapore, which is available on CPIB's website.

 

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Former employee at a care facility jailed 9 weeks for repeatedly kicking autistic resident

By LOUISA TANG
Published OCTOBER 28, 2021

• A man working in a home for adults with special needs assaulted a resident who has autism and mild intellectual disability
• He threw the victim to the ground, stepped on his abdomen and kicked him many times
• The offences came to light only when the victim’s mother found a bruise on his thigh
• Three others who saw what the worker was doing did not report the matter

SINGAPORE — At a home for adults with special needs, a staff member assaulted a resident who had autism, mild intellectual disability and epilepsy twice in a day.

The victim suffered a large bruise on the back of his thigh stretching down from his hip, which his mother later discovered.

The worker, a 28-year-old Indian national, was jailed for nine weeks on Thursday (Oct 28) for his actions last year. He had pleaded guilty last month to two charges of voluntarily causing hurt to a vulnerable victim.

He, the victim and the home cannot be named due to a court order to protect the victim’s identity.

The victim, aged 36, has lived at the home since 2019 where he is given weekly home leave.

The staff member was previously employed here on a work permit and had worked at the home for more than a year before assaulting the victim on Sept 9 last year.

FIRST INCIDENT

That morning, the victim approached the worker and grabbed his shirt collar, the court heard. Closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage of what happened was played in court.

The worker threw the victim to the ground, pinned him there by holding onto his hands and placed his knee on the victim’s abdomen. He then stood up and stepped on the victim’s abdomen once while the victim lay on the ground, then dragged him to the centre of the room.

He then let go of the victim’s hands and kicked the victim five times on his thigh, before the victim sat up.

They “communicated for a while” and the victim stood up, removing his pants and underwear. The worker, who had put on a pair of gloves, then took him to the toilet to clean up some faeces in his underwear.

Although a fellow employee witnessed this, she said that she walked away and did not think of reporting the matter because she did not want to get into trouble.

She also said that the victim had seen her and pointed towards her, as if to ask for help, but the man told her not to get involved.

In the CCTV footage, another staff member could also be seen walking towards the room. The victim waved at her but the accused raised a finger, prompting the staff member to turn around and leave.

SECOND INCIDENT

Later the same day while in a room with several other residents, the victim touched the accused’s shirt collar again in an incident also filmed on CCTV.

Shortly after that, the worker moved towards the victim, grabbed his outstretched hand and dragged him down.

The worker then kicked the victim thrice while pointing at him and gesturing at him to stand up.

While this was happening, a 30-year-old woman entered the room and eventually took the victim out of the room. She had been in the adjacent room when she heard the worker shouting and saw him kicking the victim.

When she told the worker to stop, he said that he could handle the matter and asked her to go away. She stayed, however, and he stopped kicking the victim.

Three days later, the victim returned home and his mother discovered the bruise on his thigh. She contacted the home about the matter, before sending an email to its chief executive officer when she was dissatisfied with the replies.

The CEO then contacted her and told her about the CCTV footage. He also apologised profusely to her, which she accepted.

She then allowed him to take the necessary action against the accused.

During investigations, the CEO explained that autistic patients occasionally grabbed other people’s shirts due to anxiety, which could lead to aggression if not properly handled.

However, the CEO noted that staff members had been trained for such situations and to “disengage the resident without the use of (disproportionate) force”.

The worker also said that the victim sometimes grabbed his shirt collar when he wanted to pull the worker to the ground.

In a medical report from the Institute of Mental Health (IMH), a psychiatrist noted that the victim had a long-standing history of behaving aggressively towards other people and property since a young age, having been admitted to IMH on 22 separate occasions for behavioural problems.

However, the psychiatrist also said that his behaviour had been relatively stable. No aggressive behaviour was reported during his most recent interview in December last year.

The worker was represented by defence counsel SS Dhillon, who asked for four weeks’ jail.

During sentencing, District Judge John Ng told the worker: “Of course, the work done by people like you is not easy, I think it’s a very tough situation, but nevertheless the message must be very clear — in no way can we ever have such a situation being condoned.”

For causing hurt to a vulnerable adult, the worker could have been jailed for up to six years or fined up to S$10,000, or punished with both.

 

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37 vehicles pulled over on eve of Deepavali for flouting traffic laws​

A portion of the video shows a big group of motorcyclists, with some speaking to TP officers.PHOTOS: SCREENGRAB FROM ROADS.SG/FACEBOOK
Syarafana Shafeeq

Nov 6, 2021


SINGAPORE - Thirty-seven vehicles were pulled over for offences including illegally modified exhaust systems and additional light fittings on Wednesday (Nov 3).
The joint operation by the police and Land Transport Authority (LTA) in the vicinity of Serangoon and Klang roads saw three summons issued by the Traffic Police (TP) for tinted visors.
On Saturday (Nov 6), the police said: "TP will not hesitate to take firm action against motorists who choose to flout traffic laws and endanger the safety of other road users."
LTA advises those who wish to make modifications to their vehicles to check if they comply with guidelines that are available on the OneMotoring website.
Videos of the motorists hauled up on Wednesday have been circulating online, with one by Facebook group Roads.sg garnering more than 144,000 views since it was posted on Thursday night.
A portion of the video shows a big group of motorcyclists, with some speaking to TP officers.

 

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His beer at Newton Food Centre cost him $275,135.52

CJ rejects argument of retired SAF regular who appealed against jail for drink driving​

Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon said downstream consequences that could befall an offender cannot be taken into account in sentencing.
PHOTO: ST FILE

Selina Lum
Law Correspondent

NOV 11, 2021

SINGAPORE - A retired Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) warrant officer who was given a week's jail for drink driving appealed for a fine, arguing that he risked losing a payout of more than $273,000 he was entitled to get upon retirement if a custodial sentence was imposed.
This argument was rejected by Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon, who said downstream consequences that could befall an offender cannot be taken into account in sentencing.
"Taking account of extrinsic factors could result in a fundamental assault on the criminal justice system," he said in written grounds issued on Thursday (Nov 11).
"If the court were to place weight on factors such as the financial consequences of a particular sentence, and reduce an offender's sentence on that basis, it would result in the more favourable treatment of certain individuals."
However, the Chief Justice partly allowed the appeal by 55-year-old M. Raveendran and cut his jail term to five days after comparing the facts of the case with those of past similar cases.
Raveendran was driving home after midnight on Sept 9, 2018, after having beer with friends at Newton Food Centre, when he lost control of his car along Thomson Road towards Upper Thomson Road.

His car mounted the centre divider and hit the guard railings.
A police officer came across the accident while on patrol. He conducted a preliminary breath test, which Raveendran failed.
A further test at the police station showed that he had 91 mcg of alcohol per 100ml of breath, which exceeded the prescribed limit of 35mcg.
Raveendran later footed the bill of $1,438.50 for repairs to the railings.

Last year, he pleaded guilty to a charge of drink driving. A second charge of driving without due care and attention was taken into consideration.
He had sought a $4,000 fine before the district court, arguing that he risked losing bonus and gratuity payments if he were to be jailed.
The district judge said this did not justify a reduction in his sentence. The judge imposed a week's jail and a two-year driving ban, taking into account the damage caused, level of alcohol and the loss of control.
In his appeal to the High Court this year, Raveendran said he retired in November last year and was entitled to emoluments amounting to $273,694.02.
He said the payout might be forfeited if he were to be jailed.

However, he was unable to provide any confirmation from the Defence Ministry.
In August, CJ Menon disregarded this argument but partly allowed the appeal.
In written grounds on Thursday to explain his reasons, he said: "If the courts were to take such consequences into account, there would be no logical limits as to when or how these consequences should be factored into sentencing."
He said it was impossible for the court to place a value on such consequences and translate potential financial losses into an appropriate reduction in sentence.
He added that the different potential financial losses that could be faced by offenders cannot meaningfully be compared, given the varied consequences that one could suffer as a result of being sentenced.
CJ Menon noted that under the Singapore Armed Forces Act, any military punishment may be taken into consideration as a mitigating circumstance. However, in this case, no military punishment has as yet been imposed on Raveendran.

 

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Malaysian cleaning supervisor sentenced to death for drug trafficking​

Selina Lum
Law Correspondent

Nov 15, 2021

SINGAPORE - A 39-year-old Malaysian cleaning supervisor who was caught with a bag of drugs in his motorcycle parked along Harbourfront Avenue has been sentenced to death for trafficking.
Munusamy Ramarmurth was convicted by the High Court last Wednesday (Nov 10) of being in possession of 6.3kg of a granular substance, which was found to contain 57.54g of heroin after analysis. The law provides for the death penalty if the amount of heroin trafficked is more than 15g.
In written grounds issued on Monday (Nov 15) to explain her decision to convict Munusamy, Justice Audrey Lim said she disbelieved his contention that he thought the bag contained stolen mobile phones.
The judge also rejected his claim that he had allowed a compatriot to store the bag temporarily in the rear box of his motorcycle so that another man could collect it later.
In her 42-page grounds, Justice Lim also rapped investigating officer (IO) Derek Wong for prompting a witness who was on the stand during the trial - conduct that the judge said was "inappropriate and unacceptable".
"Attempting to prompt a witness who is testifying, even on a point which may turn out to be immaterial or inconsequential, is improper and unbefitting of an enforcement officer," she said.

The IO had signalled to Sergeant Mohammad Nasrulhaq on two occasions.
He picked up a field diary and showed it to Sgt Nasrulhaq when the latter was being asked about whether the handover of a duffel bag was recorded.
He also mouthed the word "diamorphine" when Sgt Nasrulhaq was asked by the court what the term "heroin" referred to.
The judge said while the IO's conduct did not prejudice Munusamy's case, the same might not be said in other instances.

Justice Lim said she had directed the Public Prosecutor to raise the matter to the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) to take appropriate measures and to ensure that officers who are involved in investigations are properly briefed and made aware of the boundaries of their conduct in relation to cases pending in court.
Munusamy, who has worked in Singapore for 14 years, was arrested on the afternoon of Jan 26, 2018 in the cleaners' room at Harbourfront Centre Tower 2.
He was then escorted to his motorcycle parked at the open-air carpark at Keppel Bay Tower. A red plastic bag, containing bundles of drugs, was found inside the rear box of his bike.
During his trial, Munusamy said he had allowed a Malaysian named Saravanan to store the bag temporarily in the box. He said Saravanan told him someone known as "Boy" would collect it.
Munusamy claimed that he thought the bag contained stolen mobile phones because in July 2017, Saravanan and Boy had asked him to help store some stolen phones in the box.
He said Saravanan told him that items in the bag were "panas".
Munusamy said the term meant "stolen item" although his lawyer, Mr Mahadevan Lukshumayeh, did not dispute that it could also refer to illegal drugs.
Justice Lim concluded that Munusamy's story was made up.
"I found his claim that he thought the red bag contained handphones or stolen handphones was an afterthought which emerged only at the trial," said the judge.
She noted that in his statements to the CNB, Munusamy made no mention of the alleged July 2017 incident or that the bag would be collected by someone later.
On the contrary, the judge found, Munusamy knew what was in the bag.
She noted that Munusamy knew that Saravanan was involved in drug activities, yet he did not check the contents of the bag.
Under the law, the court has the discretion not to impose the death penalty if the prosecution certifies that a drug courier had substantively assisted the CNB in disrupting drug activities.
"As the prosecution did not issue him with a certificate of substantive assistance... I passed the mandatory death sentence on him," said Justice Lim.

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

Man slashed by 2 other men armed with watermelon knives following dispute during smoke break​

November 16, 2021
Soon Xue Ling


A man was allegedly slashed with a watermelon knife after getting into a fight with two men during a smoke break.
According to Zaobao, the victim had stepped out of a wedding banquet which he was attending for a smoke break when he got into an argument with two men. Later, the two men armed with a 25cm long watermelon knife each gave the victim a chase for about 200 metres.
The victim ran to the lawn in front of a coffee shop where he was overtaken and attacked. The assailants allegedly left the scene after the attack.
The slashing accident occurred at about 10pm last night (14 November), in front of the Yue Hua coffee shop located in 118 Depot Lane.
The reporter who went to the scene reported that the slashing incident took place in front of an Indian temple which was about 200 metres away from the coffee shop. At that time, a wedding banquet was being held in the temple, and the victim (37 years old) was also a guest of the wedding banquet.
The cousin of the victim, Suresh (33 years old), said in an interview that his cousin was smoking outside the temple when he got into a dispute with the two unknown men for some reason, unaware that the two men were armed with weapons.

Several guests came out upon hearing the quarrel, but the fight between the two parties intensified. Later, the two men took out their watermelon knives and chased after the victim who fled towards the direction of the coffee shop.
Members of the public who witnessed the scene described that the victim was overtaken by the two men when he ran to the lawn in front of the coffee shop. He was slashed and attacked for about two minutes. His two assailants then left the scene thereafter.
An employee working at the coffee shop told the reporter that the victim was wearing a white shirt at the time. She said, “The victim cried painfully as he was slashed, and everyone in the coffee shop could hear him. His white shirt was stained red with blood, and his hands were bleeding a lot too.”
The police reportedly rushed to the scene after being notified of the incident. Police officers sealed off the site and investigations are ongoing.

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

Jail for woman who cheated 22 victims of nearly $700,000 in Ponzi scheme​

Shaffiq Alkhatib
Court Correspondent

Nov 17, 2021

SINGAPORE - A woman who ran a Ponzi scheme cheated 22 victims between 2016 and 2018, causing them to lose nearly $700,000 in total.
Jaya Rethinasamy Ghandhi's victims had given her money believing she had the capacity to deliver to them airline tickets and foreign exchange currencies.
At the time of the offences, the 54-year-old Singaporean did not have the licences to run a travel agency or a money-changing business.
On Wednesday (Nov 17), Jaya was sentenced to 25 months and five weeks' jail. She was also fined $5,000.
She had earlier pleaded guilty to 20 charges including 16 counts of cheating. Another 158 charges were considered during sentencing.
Jaya's troubles started in 2014, after she took a $300,000 loan from a credit company on behalf of one Shobagunasekharan and gave the money to the individual's boyfriend.


But he made off with the sum and Jaya found herself in financial difficulties.
She did not renew the licence for My Travel and Tours, a travel agency she started in 2013, and after the licence expired in December 2014, she wound up the business.
She then tapped her experience in the travel business to pay off her debts, but ended up duping her victims.
Jaya sold airline tickets on the condition that the tickets were not issued immediately.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Tay Jia En told the court: "Instead, the accused would give them a deadline when she would issue the tickets, which would usually be around three weeks before the flight."
She would use the time to check with travel agencies online and capitalise on her knowledge and resources of good deals from travel agencies via group fare rates.
After that, Jaya would inform the customers of the agreed price and ask them to make payment to her bank account.
She also told her family and friends that she could change the local currency to some foreign currencies at favourable rates but each transaction involved a "lock-in period".

DPP Tay said: "She would use the money received from the interested parties to honour the airline ticket transactions for the airline tickets offences, as well as other foreign currency exchange arrangements she had with other interested parties which were earlier in time."
But from November 2016 onwards, she could not honour the foreign exchange transactions.
The airline ticket arrangements also fell apart after she mismanaged the time-limit for some of the ticket transactions.
Police started their investigations in July 2017 after receiving reports from people who said that they had been scammed.
While being investigated, Jaya continued her ruse.
"The accused admitted that her business model of concurrently operating her airline ticket business and engaging in foreign currency exchange transactions was not profitable, and not sustainable in the long run.
"The accused admitted that each time she made a deal with the victims, she knew that she had no means to honour the deals without making a loss," said the DPP.

To date, she has made a partial restitution of $45,600.
Jaya's bail was set at $30,000 on Wednesday and she was ordered to surrender herself at the State Courts on Dec 29 to begin serving her sentence.
For each count of cheating, an offender can be jailed for up to 10 years and fined.

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

Court of Appeal upholds death sentences of 2 men convicted of cannabis trafficking​

A generic photo of cannabis. The two men had brought the drugs into Singapore via the Woodlands Checkpoint in March 2016.
PHOTO: UNSPLASH

Jean Iau

Nov 26, 2021

SINGAPORE - Singapore's highest court on Friday (Nov 26) upheld the death sentences of two men who had been convicted of conspiring to traffic at least 1.34kg of cannabis.
The two men, Malaysian Kamalnathan Muniandy, 27, and Singaporean Chandroo Subramaniam, 52, had denied being involved in the operation and knowing about the drugs.
The Court of Appeal also dismissed an appeal made by a third man involved in the case, Malaysian national Pravinash Chandran, who was sentenced to life imprisonment and 15 strokes of the cane for having the drugs in his possession.
The High Court judge had found that Pravinash, 26, was a mere courier of the drugs, and the prosecution had certified that he had helped disrupt drug trafficking activities.
On March 5, 2016, Kamalnathan and Pravinash arrived in Singapore via the Woodlands Checkpoint.
When they arrived at Kranji MRT station, the drugs were placed in Pravinash's haversack. Both men then went to a nearby coffee shop where Kamalnathan called a man identified only as "Suren".

They later went to Kranji Road, where they established contact with Chandroo, who handed them money and empty plastic bags.
The trio were arrested by officers from the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) shortly after parting ways. The drugs were found in Pravinash's haversack, in a judgment released on Friday (Nov 26).
While the men each gave varying accounts, the High Court judge relied heavily on Pravinash's account, which implicated Kamalnathan as the one in charge of the operation and Chandroo as the person the drugs were meant to be delivered to, said Justices Andrew Phang, Steven Chong and Belinda Ang.
They found that the High Court judge had been right in rejecting Kamalnathan and Chandroo's accounts.
Kamalnathan said in his statements to the police that he was taking instructions from Suren, and he knew Pravinash had drugs on him because he was paid RM200 to bring Pravinash to Singapore. At the trial, he asserted that he had entered Singapore to help Pravinash find a job and that the three blocks of drugs contained "certificates" to be passed to "uncle".
Chandroo's credibility was also found to be questionable after he failed to give a consistent account of what the $4,000 found in his possession was intended for.
He had earlier claimed he was on his way to Malaysia to pass the money to a friend to pay for his house, and had met Kamalnathan and Pravinash by chance for the first time along Kranji Road when Pravinash stopped and asked him for directions to Tekka. Chandroo later said during trial that he was at Kranji Road to pass money to a friend of a friend.

Pravinash had alleged, among other things, that the chain of custody of the drugs had been affected as he was taken to Singapore Turf Club for eight minutes while the haversack with the drugs was with a CNB officer.
The judges dismissed this since Pravinash did not dispute that the drugs were in his possession. One of the drug blocks also contained Kamalnathan's DNA and Kamalnathan had already been arrested at the time, making the insinuation that the drugs were planted "extremely improbable", said the judges.
The Court of Appeal concluded that there was no basis to overturn the convictions of the three men or set their mandatory sentences aside.

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

'When I come out, I will find you': Man arrested for possession of drugs tells police officers​

Osmond Chia


NOV 26, 2021


SINGAPORE - A man who had spent a total of 18 years behind bars over a variety of offences spat, shoved and threatened police officers after he was arrested for drug possession.
As Clarence Selvarajoo, 47, was transported to a police station, he told police officers: "When I come out, I will find you."
On Friday (Nov 26), the Singaporean was sentenced to eight months and 17 weeks' jail and fined $5,500.
He had pleaded guilty to nine charges including abusing police officers, theft and drug possession.
Another six charges for offences such as flouting Covid-19 rules and abusive behaviour were taken into consideration.
Clarence will have to spend an additional 22 days behind bars for breaching his remission order. He was supposed to remain out of trouble after receiving an early release from prison on Jan 2.

The court heard that on March 7 this year, Clarence was drinking beer with three friends and making loud noises near a supermarket in Teck Whye Lane.
Three police officers headed down at 9pm after someone complained about the noise. The officers saw the group and noticed that Clarence was not wearing his mask correctly.
When he was told to do so, he got agitated and challenged the officer to a fight, said Deputy Public Prosecutor Hidayat Amir.
After Clarence was detained, the officers conducted a search and found in his sling bag 11g of fragmented vegetable matter, which turned out to be a type of new psychoactive substance.

They also found utensils to consume the synthetic drug.
He was arrested and taken to the Woodlands police division headquarters but as they arrived at the station, he spat at one of the officers who sat next to him in the car and shoved at him three times with his knee, said DPP Hidayat, who added that the officer was not injured.
Clarence then turned to the officers and said: "When I come out, I will find you."

DPP Hidayat described his offence as "brazen" and added that it was committed while he was restricted in movement.
"The composite picture which emerges is the accused's penchant and lack of restraint in resorting to verbal abuse against just about anyone, (whether) complete strangers or even law enforcement officers," he added.
He said that Clarence had spent more than 18 years in prison previously for crimes such as theft, outrage of modesty and drug offences.
After an adjournment to bring in a Tamil interpreter to clarify Clarence's plea of guilt, Deputy Principal District Judge Luke Tan sentenced him.
His jail term would be backdated to Sept 8 when he was put in remand.

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

Jail for 4th man linked to plan to extort businessman filmed having sex with another man​

Mahadevan Edwyn was sentenced to 18 months' jail on Nov 29, 2021.
ST PHOTO: KEVIN CHNG

Shaffiq Alkhatib
Court Correspondent

Nov 29, 2021

SINGAPORE - Three men hatched a plan to extort $60,000 from a married businessman after he was secretly recorded having sex with another man.
The amount was later reduced to $50,000 but police arrested the trio, including the businessman's personal assistant, before any money could change hands.
They were then released on bail.
Despite this, one of them, Tan Yong Jian was so intent on getting cash from the 53-year-old businessman that he separately roped in a fourth man, Mahadevan Edwyn, to try the extortion scheme again.
Tan, then 24, also promised Mahadevan a 50-50 split of the amount.
On Monday (Nov 29), Mahadevan, now 29, was sentenced to 18 months' jail after he pleaded guilty to one count of criminal intimidation.

The Singaporean committed the offence while he was under a remission order, just months after he was released from prison in late 2019 over crimes not stated in court documents.
As part of the order, he was supposed to keep out of trouble from Oct 9, 2019 to Aug 28 last year. For breaching it, he now has to spend an additional 59 days behind bars.
The three men - Tan, as well as Daryn Ho Yong Jian and the businessman's former personal assistant, both 24 - were dealt with in court earlier.
The businessman and his former personal assistant cannot be named due to a gag order.


In late 2019, the personal assistant secretly installed a camera in the businessman's home.
He set the device to motion notification mode so he could be alerted through an application on his mobile phone when someone was in the room.
He was able to view the goings-on in real time and make recordings. He left the camera in the businessman's house for about three weeks.
During that time, he managed to record his boss having sex with another man on at least five occasions.
The personal assistant, Tan and Ho then hatched a plan to extort money from the businessman, who alerted the police.

Officers arrested the trio on March 13 last year following an investigation and they were later released on bail.
Despite this, Tan persisted in the extortion attempt and on April 2 last year, roped in Mahadevan, who was then working as a sales manager for a debt recovery firm.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Zhou Yang said: "The accused agreed to Yong Jian's plan, as his income was affected by the economic downturn and he needed money to renovate his new... flat.
"In a call later that day, Yong Jian provided the accused with further details about the videos as well as the victim's background... such that Yong Jian would not be implicated and the accused's identity remained anonymous."
Tan also gave Mahadevan the businessman's mobile phone number, the court heard.
At around 4.20pm on April 3 last year, Mahadevan sent the businessman text messages, asking him to hand over $50,000 in cash within 24 hours.
Mahadevan also told the older man that videos of him "committing gay acts" would be uploaded onto Facebook and other forums if he failed to do so.
The DPP added: "Sometime around 7.41 pm, the accused messaged the victim 'the clock is ticking', as the victim did not reply to his earlier messages.
"Later at around 9.13pm, the accused became irritated at the victim's non-response. The accused messaged the victim "(You) don't know how to reply? Don't make me irritated'."
The businessman finally replied at around midnight and asked for the identity of Mahadevan, who told him: "Save your words for someone who cares, because I don't. I only want money or ruining people's lives, it's your choice."
The businessman initially replied that he did not have the money. But at around 3pm on April 4 last year, he sent Mahadevan another message stating that he needed about a week to raise the $50,000.
Mahadevan felt suspicious about this development and later got rid of the mobile phone as well as the SIM card he had used to contact the businessman.
The court heard that police then arrested the younger man at around 9pm that day.