Foreigner on trial for subletting to multiple tenants a flat he rented from a prison officer
SINGAPORE: A foreigner is accused of running an illegal business by subletting a five-room flat he rented from a prison officer, to multiple other tenants over more than two years.According to two tenants who testified for the prosecution, they paid between S$230 and S$250 monthly for a bed space in the flat.
It is believed that more than 20 people stayed at the flat at one point, in a breach of rental regulations.
Only Singapore citizens can rent out their whole flat, and for a maximum of six people depending on the flat type.
Guo Lianqiang, a 47-year-old Chinese national, went on trial on Thursday (Sep 21) for one count under the Employment of Foreign Manpower Act, for engaging in the business of subletting two units for gain when he did not have a valid work pass to do so.
Guo denied the charge, saying he did rent out the units but that he was not the mastermind. He claimed that another Chinese national named Mr Tien Ren Kai had passed the tenancy to him and kept the rental gains, and that Mr Tien had since become uncontactable.
The prosecution said records showed that Mr Tien has since left Singapore.
One of the units Guo allegedly sublet out was at Block 530, Serangoon North Avenue 4, while the other was at 47 Bendemeer Road.
Thursday's hearing was focused on the Serangoon North flat.
SENIOR PRISON OFFICER TESTIFIES
The landlord for the Serangoon North unit, prison officer Dennis Kochukutty, took the stand for the prosecution. He told the court that he came to own the flat after his parents died.As the Singapore Prison Service gave him living quarters, he moved out in 2003 and rented the entire flat out after obtaining permission from the Housing Board.
Mr Dennis said a former tenant introduced him to Guo, who then signed four 12-month tenancy agreements for the period of end-2017 to 2021.
Guo rented the entire flat for S$2,600 a month.
Mr Dennis said Guo was the main tenant and he liaised only with him, but he knew there were co-tenants. He said he would obtain their information from Guo so he could update HDB on who his tenants were, retrieving fresh information if there were new tenants replacing those who left.
He said he had no issues with Guo as a tenant, and that Guo would pay him regularly. Guo would settle whatever minor issues he and the tenants might have, such as with spoilt lightbulbs, if the cost was under S$150.
The only major change he noticed was that Guo had installed new air-conditioners, which he realised only when he brought prospective buyers to the flat for a viewing around end-2020 or early 2021.
Asked if he knew for a fact that Guo physically stayed at the flat, Mr Dennis said he "would not know". He wound up selling the flat to buyers in mid-2021.
GUO WAS "SECOND LANDLORD"
For its second witness, the prosecution called to the stand a Chinese national named Mr Peng Sheng Guo, who was a tenant at the Serangoon North flat for about 10 months to a year, starting from March 2020.Mr Peng said through a Mandarin interpreter that he worked in "fire protection" in the service sector and had a work permit.
In 2020, he was quarantined at a dormitory due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
He then saw a listing for the flat online, advertising a bed space and with a number included. He said he called the number and went over once he completed quarantine.
Asked by the prosecution if the person he spoke to over the phone identified himself, Mr Peng gave a wry smile and said: "I've been here 12 years. Needless to say, I know he is the second landlord."
Questioned by the judge, he clarified that whenever he rented a new place, he would ask if the person he was renting it from was Singaporean or a "second landlord".
TENANTS TESTIFY ON LIVING ARRANGEMENTS
Mr Peng said there were four rooms in the flat, and he shared his room with three other tenants who each had their own beds.He was not sure how many people there were in total, as the tenants held both day and night shifts and he did not see them all the time.
But one of the tenants was later diagnosed with COVID-19 and was called in by a ministry to give a statement.
According to Mr Peng, it was an investigator from the ministry who said the flat contained more than 20 people. But Mr Peng said there were not that many at the time he was staying there.
The prosecution showed him 11 photos and he identified two people who were co-tenants in his room; two women who shared the master bedroom; the accused; and the tenant who contracted COVID-19.
Mr Peng said he and the other tenants would pay Guo their rents in cash towards the end of each month, when Guo came over. Guo did not stay at the flat, said Mr Peng.
If there were any issues with the flat, they would look for Guo, and generally everyone cleaned up after themselves in common areas such as the kitchen.
The tenants would enter the flat with a passcode for the digital lock, and the passcode would be on a piece of paper Guo put behind the main door, along with the Wi-Fi password.
Occasionally the passcode would be changed if a tenant moved out.
Another former tenant, Chinese national Liu Ru Heng, who works at a studio hotel, told the court that he stayed in the flat from end-2019 to 2021.
He paid S$230 a month to Guo for rent, with S$5 taken off per day if he cleaned up the flat.
Mr Liu said he got to know of the Serangoon North flat through an agent, who fetched him from the airport and drove him to the address.
Guo denied signing any tenancy agreements with the main landlord, Mr Dennis. He said the signatures were not his but Mr Tien's, even though Mr Dennis testified that they would meet at the same coffeeshop in Ang Mo Kio each year to sign a fresh agreement extending his tenancy.
The trial continues before District Judge Sharmila Sripathy-Shanaz.
If convicted of engaging in the business of subletting two units without a valid work pass, he could be jailed for up to two years, fined up to S$20,000, or both.
