Foreign talent's contributions to Singapore

[LITTLEREDDOT]

Jail, caning for man who slashed woman, 64, multiple times in robbery attempt​

Shaffiq Alkhatib
Mar 04, 2025, 07:42 PM

SINGAPORE - A homeless man, who could not work in Singapore as he was on a student pass, attacked a 64-year-old woman with a razor blade during a robbery attempt, causing multiple wounds on her neck and arms.

Indian national Shamsher Singh, who turns 27 on March 5, committed the offence in Mountbatten Road in November 2022 and fled the scene empty-handed.

The Singaporean victim, who was then working as a retail assistant, alerted the police after the attack. She was taken to Tan Tock Seng Hospital and was given 30 days of hospitalisation leave. The woman was unable to follow her daily routine for 63 days.

After a trial, Singh was convicted of one count of causing grievous hurt to the woman while attempting to commit robbery.

He also pleaded guilty to two unrelated charges – one count each of theft and voluntarily causing grievous hurt to a teenage boy.

On March 4, he was sentenced to 8½ years in jail, 12 strokes of the cane and a fine of $1,000.

In earlier proceedings, Deputy Public Prosecutor Tung Shou Pin told District Judge Lim Tse Haw that the victim, who was on her way home from work on Nov 10, 2022, got off bus service 31 at a bus stop near the Singapore Association for the Deaf at around 8.30pm.

DPP Tung added that Singh was sitting at the bus stop when he saw the woman walking towards the lift of a nearby overhead bridge, as she wanted to cross to the opposite side of the road.

The court heard that the woman’s legs were too weak to walk up the stairs of the overhead bridge.

The prosecutor said Singh then took out an unused disposable razor and unwrapped it.

He held the razor discreetly in his right hand by pinching it between his index finger and thumb.

The victim got off the lift, and Singh tailed her after he took the stairs up the overhead bridge.

DPP Tung told Judge Lim: “The victim made it about halfway across... Suddenly, the accused grabbed her from behind and covered her mouth with his left hand. He grabbed her so tightly that she could not move freely.

“The victim immediately struggled, but the accused cut her neck with the razor in his right hand before she could free herself... He repeatedly demanded money... Before she could pay up, he repeatedly slashed her arms with the razor.”

The victim continued struggling and managed to pull on Singh’s hoodie, dislodging his hood, which he quickly pulled up to conceal his face. As they tussled, the victim’s face mask fell off, and she shouted: “Robbery!”

Court documents stated that Singh covered the woman’s mouth with his hand to silence her, but she bit him to make him release his grip.

The DPP said that Singh bit her wrist before he dropped the razor on the bridge and fled.

The woman alerted the police, and officers arrested Singh when he was with his girlfriend at East Coast Park at around 2.20am the next day.

During the trial, Singh did not deny being at the overhead bridge and admitted he had caused the cuts on the victim’s arms.

However, he claimed that he was defending himself against the victim, who had supposedly attacked him first.

Singh said he had finished lessons at Trent Global College at Mountbatten Square at about 4pm on the day of the attack. He then met his girlfriend at Tekka Centre in Little India.

He claimed he later returned to Mountbatten Road and went up the overhead bridge, where he met the victim, and his right hand “accidentally brushed against her right hand” when he walked past her.

Singh said he apologised to the woman, but she hurled vulgarities and racial insults at him.

He testified that a scuffle broke out between them, and he “swung” a shaver at the victim’s left arm before fleeing the scene.

Stressing that the victim was a credible witness, the DPP said Singh should have gone to the police to complain about the victim’s purported attack on him.

“The accused had the gall to spin a nonsensical tale that the victim, a frail senior citizen, attacked him so viciously he had to cut her with a razor to free himself,” he added.

In an unrelated case, Singh, who was represented by lawyer Ranjit Singh, assaulted a 17-year-old boy in September 2022 and caused a fracture to the victim’s left wrist.

Sometime between Sept 29 and Oct 10, 2022, Singh stole a watch worth around $519 from his female housemate.

After moving out, he sent her a WhatsApp message on Oct 10, 2022, and she saw that he was wearing the watch in his profile picture.

She confronted him and he promised to return it to her. She alerted the police on Oct 24 that year when he failed to keep his word.

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

Man who climbed into neighbour’s home to molest woman gets 7 months’ jail​

Nadine Chua
Mar 05, 2025

SINGAPORE – A man climbed into his neighbour’s condominium unit through the kitchen balcony and molested a woman while she was sleeping in her bedroom.

When she woke up, the man urinated in fear, pleading with her and her husband not to call the police.

On March 5, Erakkodan Abinraj, 26, was handed a jail term of seven months after pleading guilty to one count of molestation. Another count of housebreaking was considered during sentencing.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Kathy Chu said the Indian national had been living next door to the 36-year-old victim for around a year. He lived there with five of his colleagues and knew the victim as he had bumped into her before.

On Sept 22, 2024, at around 4.50am, Erakkodan entered the woman’s unit through the kitchen balcony, which was connected her unit and his.

As it was dark, Erakkodan turned on the torchlight on his mobile phone and wandered around the unit, looking at the woman’s family photos.

He then entered the master bedroom where the woman was asleep with her husband. Their daughter was asleep in another room.

Erakkodan then touched the woman’s underwear and pulled it downwards, wanting to remove it.

DPP Chu said: “The victim awoke as she felt someone touching her. She turned to her left to look at her husband and saw that he was sleeping. Puzzled, she turned to her right and saw the accused holding up his handphone with the torchlight on.”

The woman screamed, waking her husband, who confronted Erakkodan and asked him to leave the room.

As Erakkodan walked out of the room, he urinated in fear and pleaded with them not to call the police.

The woman called the police and Erakkodan remained in the victim’s home until the police arrived. He admitted to the couple that he had entered the unit through the kitchen balcony.

However, he denied touching the woman and lied that his mobile phone had dropped on her and woke her up.

Seeking six to eight months’ jail, DPP Chu said: “The offence took place in the victim’s bedroom, in the middle of the night. The accused invaded the sanctity of the home.”

The prosecutor added that the victim was vulnerable as she was asleep and that Erakkodan caused further inconvenience to the victim and her family by urinating in her home.

If convicted of molestation, an offender can be jailed for up to three years, fined and caned.

 

[True Believer]

The trouble with most foreigners is that they believe that they can bring their Third World behaviour from which ever shit hole they entered SG from, and replicate it here w/o any consequences. Look at the increase in jaywalking, littering, crime and defecation in public in SG these days.

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

Jail for maid abuser who threatened to make victim pay her $2k if she reported to MOM​

Norwahidah Johari (pictured) started abusing Ms Putri Rizki Amelia, just five months after the offender’s husband employed the maid.PHOTO: SHIN MIN DAILY NEWS

Shaffiq Alkhatib
Mar 06, 2025

SINGAPORE – A woman abused her domestic helper on eight separate occasions in 2023 and even threatened to make the Indonesian woman pay her $2,000 if the victim reported the matter to the Ministry of Manpower (MOM).

Norwahidah Johari started abusing Ms Putri Rizki Amelia, 33, just five months after the offender’s husband employed the maid on March 13, 2023.

In her police report, the victim told officers that she had to sleep in the kitchen of her employer’s Bukit Batok Housing Board flat since the second day of her employment.

Ms Putri added that Norwahidah had also verbally abused her by saying: “Poor, filthy woman.”

The 42-year-old Malaysian offender was sentenced to four weeks’ jail on March 6 after she pleaded guilty to two counts of using criminal force on the victim and one count of assaulting her.

Five other counts of using criminal force on the maid were considered during her sentencing.

Norwahidah, who is a Singapore permanent resident, started abusing the maid on Aug 9, 2023, when she threw a basket containing torn pieces of waste paper at Ms Putri’s face.

She later committed other acts of abuse including swinging a shoe towards the helper and throwing a bowl of flour at her.

Shortly after midnight on Sept 28, 2023, Norwahidah was in the kitchen when she asked Ms Putri why a bottle of soya sauce was not placed in a nearby refrigerator.

Norwahidah then said that she had repeatedly reminded the maid to keep the condiment in the refrigerator, adding the younger woman had not done so for about a month and a half.

Ms Putri replied that Norwahidah had generally kept soya sauce on a kitchen table. The victim also said that the condiment bottle was too big to fit in the refrigerator.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Ng Jun Kai told the court: “The accused got angry at the victim. (She)...poured half the bottle of soya sauce over the head of the victim.

“The victim was upset and challenged the accused to finish pouring the bottle of soya sauce over her. The accused then continued pouring the whole bottle of soya sauce over the victim’s head.”

On another occasion, Norwahidah was having dinner at home some time in September 2023 when she asked Ms Putri to prepare some chilli for her and remove the seeds.

The maid handed a bowl of chilli to the offender who rejected it, saying that she could still see some seeds.

Norwahidah told Ms Putri to clean the chilli again and the latter complied.

DPP Ng said: “The accused...told the victim that there were still seeds and got angry at the victim. The accused then took the bowl of cut chillies and threw it in the face of the victim.

“The cut chillies came into contact with the victim’s eyes and caused irritation to the victim that night.”

The acts of abuse escalated in early October 2023 when Norwahidah started assaulting the helper.

The court heard that the offender had earlier noticed that a couch in her flat reeked of urine after she came home from work. Details about her occupation were not disclosed in court documents.

She became frustrated as she had instructed Ms Putri on previous occasions to place a rubber mat on the couch before her daughter, who was still wearing a nappy, rested on it.

Ms Putri then told Norwahidah that the child’s nappy had overflowed earlier that day and soiled the couch.

The helper also told Norwahidah that she had washed the couch but the latter insisted that it still reeked of urine.

Ms Putri was cleaning the couch again when Norwahidah said that it was “expensive” and that the victim could not afford it.

Norwahidah then grabbed her maid’s left ear and twisted it. Ms Putri finally made a police report on Oct 9, 2023.

She also told officers that Norwahidah had threatened to make her fork out $2,000 if she reported to the MOM.

The abuser was later charged in court in 2024.

On March 6, defence lawyer Noelle Teoh urged the court to sentence her client to three weeks’ jail.

Ms Teoh also said that Norwahidah regretted her actions and had acted out of character.

The offender’s bail has been set at $10,000 and she is expected to start serving her sentence on March 24.

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

Jail, fine for ex-cop with gambling habit who pocketed nearly $1.8k entrusted to him​

Shaffiq Alkhatib
Mar 06, 2025

SINGAPORE – A police officer was at work when he misappropriated nearly $1,800 in cash from a handbag that a security officer had found unattended and entrusted to him.

Muhammad Amzath Khan Abuayubul Ansari, who was then a Sergeant 2, committed the offence in August 2024 as he wanted to use the money to gamble on unlawful online portals and repay bank debts.

The Malaysian man resigned from the Singapore Police Force the following month, and the misappropriated money was fully recovered.

On March 6, the 24-year-old Singapore permanent resident was sentenced to seven months’ jail and a fine of $2,000.

He had pleaded guilty to one count each of criminal breach of trust and taking part in unlawful gambling activities.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Lim Li Ting said Amzath had been placing bets on several unlicensed online gambling platforms since 2017.

He had created an account on one of the websites and obtained gaming credits by transferring funds to various bank accounts provided by the portal’s administrator.

By using such credits, he would go on the website to play casino games as well as place bets on sports and e-sports matches.

The DPP told the court that Amzath had placed more than $17,000 in bets on the website over 200 occasions in August 2024.

At around 5pm on Aug 24, 2024, a 19-year-old woman accidentally left her handbag behind when she boarded a private hire car outside a condominium complex in Middle Road.

The property’s security officers found the handbag. At around 7.40pm, one of them took the bag to Rochor Neighbourhood Police Centre (NPC), where Amzath attended to him.

The 43-year-old security officer entrusted the handbag and its contents to the policeman.

He also handed a piece of paper listing the items found in the bag, including nearly $1,800 in cash, to Amzath.

DPP Lim said: “After taking over the handbag, the accused opened it on the countertop and confirmed that there was a bundle of cash in there.

“At that time, the (security officer) was seated in front of him at a counter. The accused then formed the intention to dishonestly misappropriate the cash for his personal use.”

When the security officer looked away, Amzath placed the handbag below the countertop, took out the money and hid it.

After that, he placed the handbag on the countertop and sealed it in a polymer bag in the security officer’s view before the older man left the NPC.

Amzath left work at about 8pm that day with the misappropriated cash.

In a bid to cover his tracks, he also shredded the list the security officer had given him.

At around 9.30pm, the woman returned to the condominium and approached its security officers, who said her handbag was at Rochor NPC in Kampong Kapor Road.

After she claimed her handbag there, she discovered the money was missing.

Amzath was arrested on Aug 25, 2024, and the cash was fully recovered from him 11 days later. He resigned on Sept 26 that year.

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

Jail for man who stole nearly $212k worth of goods, including 457 GoPro cameras​

Shaffiq Alkhatib
Mar 11, 2025

SINGAPORE – In need of cash, an operations worker at a warehouse stole nearly $212,000 worth of goods, including 457 GoPro cameras, from his then workplace and sold them in Johor, Malaysia.

Mohamad Faizat Mohd Paszul used his ill-gotten gains to buy furniture for his Malaysian home and a motorcycle.

The 27-year-old Malaysian, who has not made any restitution, was sentenced to a year and nine months’ jail on March 11 after he pleaded guilty to a theft charge.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Jordy Kay told the court that Faizat stole from the warehouse in Ubi Avenue 4 around two to three times a week between November 2023 and May 2024.

After office hours, he would place his loot inside a black rubbish bag and seal it before taking it to a rubbish disposal area.

The prosecutor said: “To avoid detection, the accused would only return to the rubbish disposal area to retrieve the stolen items after his colleagues left the warehouse.

“After successfully removing the items from the warehouse, the accused would sell the stolen items to a Malaysian national in Johor.”

His offence came to light after numerous items were found to be missing during a stock-take.

Faizat’s employer suspected that its own staff could have stolen the goods and a warehouse senior manager alerted the police on April 15, 2024.

Court documents did not disclose how the authorities managed to uncover Faizat as the culprit, but he was arrested four months later.

 

[True Believer]

Such thefts by foreigners working in S'pore are small in comparison
to the daily plunder by our politicians, which are craftily made legal.

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

Jail for man who stole nearly $212k worth of goods, including 457 GoPro cameras​

Shaffiq Alkhatib
Mar 11, 2025

SINGAPORE – In need of cash, an operations worker at a warehouse stole nearly $212,000 worth of goods, including 457 GoPro cameras, from his then workplace and sold them in Johor, Malaysia.

Mohamad Faizat Mohd Paszul used his ill-gotten gains to buy furniture for his Malaysian home and a motorcycle.

The 27-year-old Malaysian, who has not made any restitution, was sentenced to a year and nine months’ jail on March 11 after he pleaded guilty to a theft charge.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Jordy Kay told the court that Faizat stole from the warehouse in Ubi Avenue 4 around two to three times a week between November 2023 and May 2024.

After office hours, he would place his loot inside a black rubbish bag and seal it before taking it to a rubbish disposal area.

The prosecutor said: “To avoid detection, the accused would only return to the rubbish disposal area to retrieve the stolen items after his colleagues left the warehouse.

“After successfully removing the items from the warehouse, the accused would sell the stolen items to a Malaysian national in Johor.”

His offence came to light after numerous items were found to be missing during a stock-take.

Faizat’s employer suspected that its own staff could have stolen the goods and a warehouse senior manager alerted the police on April 15, 2024.

Court documents did not disclose how the authorities managed to uncover Faizat as the culprit, but he was arrested four months later.

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

Senior executive breached confidentiality by downloading thousands of files when he resigned: Court​

The judge said Mr Rajan's explanation for deleting applications from his devices was unsatisfactory.PHOTO: ST FILE

Selina Lum
Mar 14, 2025

SINGAPORE – Around the time he resigned as head of investor relations at a Singapore-based fund management company, a man downloaded thousands of documents from its cloud storage on Google Drive.

Mr Rajan Sunil Kumar was subsequently sued by his former employer, Hayate Partners, for breach of confidentiality by accessing and downloading the documents, and by retaining copies of the documents beyond the termination of his employment.

The files included documents relating to Hayate’s investment strategies; personal identification information and bank account details of clients; meeting minutes and call logs; and personal identification information of the firm’s key personnel.

After he was ordered by the court to hand over his electronic devices for forensic examination by Hayate’s experts, Mr Rajan wiped them clean.

He then argued that his former employer had no evidence to show that he retained the downloaded documents beyond the termination of his employment.

In a judgment released on March 14, a High Court judge said the only reason Hayate did not have such evidence was due to Mr Rajan’s intentional and deliberate acts of deleting the applications on his devices.

Justice Dedar Singh Gill said: “That is akin to a thief deleting the video footage capturing his act of stealing, and then saying that no one can prove that he had stolen something.”

The judge found that Mr Rajan breached his confidentiality obligations by downloading certain documents to his personal MacBook and by retaining the files after the termination of his employment.

But Justice Gill also found that Mr Rajan did not breach confidentiality for other downloads that were made to his Dell work laptop, which was returned to the company upon the termination of his employment.

Justice Gill ordered the cache files that remain in the MacBook to be deleted under the supervision of Hayate or its forensic expert and lawyers.

Hayate’s claim for damages will be assessed at a separate hearing.

The Singapore-incorporated company held a capital markets services licence and mainly managed the Hayate Japan Equity Long-Short Fund.

It was registered with the Monetary Authority of Singapore as a financial institution at the time of the proceedings.

A Straits Times check of its current status shows that a notice of cessation has been lodged.

Mr Rajan, who is 38 this year, was the company’s head of investor relations from Dec 9, 2019 to Dec 22, 2021.

His primary role was to reach out to prospective investors for the purposes of promoting the fund.

During the course of his employment, the company did not provide him with regular payslips.

This increasingly became a bugbear as Mr Rajan, who is from India, needed to submit his payslips to apply for Singapore citizenship.

He eventually tendered his resignation verbally on Dec 8, 2021.

The company conducted an audit of his IT activities as part of its usual protocol when an employee resigns.

In total, Mr Rajan was alleged to have downloaded about 4,800 distinct files from the company’s online cloud storage into his MacBook over three days in 2021, on Dec 8, Dec 20 and Dec 21.

He was alleged to have retained these files after the termination of his employment.

Hayate, represented by Ms Sharon Chong of RHTLaw Asia, sued him in 2022.

The company relied on clauses in his letter of appointment in arguing that he was contractually obliged not to retain confidential information.

Hayate also obtained a court order for Mr Rajan to hand over all devices which were used to download the confidential information so that they could be examined by its forensic experts.

Mr Rajan handed over his MacBook and iPhone after deleting most of the applications from the devices.

Hayate argued that Mr Rajan knew that removing the applications could wipe away crucial metadata and limit the evidence against him recoverable by the forensic experts.

Mr Rajan, represented by Mr Alfred Dodwell, argued that there were no explicit terms in his letter of appointment imposing an obligation on him not to access and download the information for non-work-related purposes.

He accepted that the downloads made on Dec 8 and Dec 21 were into his MacBook, but maintained that the Dec 20 downloads were into the Dell laptop.

Mr Rajan’s explanation for deleting the applications was that he did not know who he was giving away the devices to and that he had started in a new job.

In his judgment, Justice Gill said Mr Rajan’s explanation for the deletions rang hollow and was unsatisfactory.

Regarding the downloads on Dec 8 and Dec 21, the judge concluded that it was more likely than not that Mr Rajan had retained the confidential documents in his personal devices beyond the last day of his employment.

The judge said it was more likely that the Dec 20 downloads were into the Dell laptop, based on the timings of the downloading and syncing between Mr Rajan’s devices and the firm’s servers.

Mr Rajan had asserted that he downloaded Skype chat logs on Dec 21 to use as evidence in lodging complaints to various authorities against Hayate.

But Justice Gill said Mr Rajan had already gathered the necessary proof by taking numerous screenshots of the Skype conversations relating to the issue of his payslips, and there was no need for him to download the entire chat log.

​

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

Jail, fine for man who urinated inside MRT carriage in drunken stupor​

Meksuwan Suwapit pleaded guilty to one count of committing an obscene act and another for committing an act of public nuisance.ST PHOTO: CHNG KIAN HAN
Andrew Wong
Mar 18, 2025

SINGAPORE - A man has been jailed and fined over urinating inside an MRT train, following a spate of public urination incidents at MRT stations in 2025.

On March 18, Meksuwan Suwapit, 37, pleaded guilty to one count of committing an obscene act and another for committing an act of public nuisance.

The Thai national, who is an inspection engineer, was sentenced to a week’s jail and fined $2,000.

District Judge Salina Ishak said his actions had crossed the custodial threshold and a fine would not be sufficient.

“You had exposed your penis in a confined train – it was clearly visible and shown. Your conduct caused annoyance, shock and disgust to the commuters in what was a relatively crowded train,” the district judge said.

The court heard that Meksuwan met his friends in the Somerset area for a drink on Jan 25.

He decided to head home around 8pm after consuming a bottle of red wine, and boarded a train headed towards Jurong East.

When the train was somewhere between Ang Mo Kio and Khatib stations, he felt the urge to urinate and decided to relieve himself on the spot.

According to a witness who called the police, Meksuwan unzipped his pants and exposed his penis, before urinating inside the train where he stood.

In court, Meksuwan said he understood that he made a huge mistake, and promised to stay away from alcohol in the future.

Two other men were fined earlier in the year over public urination cases at MRT stations, while a third has been charged.

On Jan 14, Li Guorui, 41, was fined $2,000 after he urinated on an escalator handrail at Outram Park MRT station four days earlier. He was heavily intoxicated after consuming a large amount of beer during a business dinner.

On Feb 26, Zhou Hongwei, 57, was also fined $2,000, after he urinated in front of the passenger service centre at Potong Pasir MRT station on Jan 13 at around 7.30pm.

Soo Fook Khan, 53, was charged on Jan 15 with urinating at the platform of Tanah Merah MRT station on Jan 8 at around 12.30pm.

Soo’s case will be heard on March 27.

For committing an act of public nuisance and knowing that this act would cause annoyance to the public, an offender can be jailed for up to three months, fined up to $2,000, or both.

For performing an obscene act in a public place, an offender can be jailed for up to three months and fined.

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

Deleted

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

Jail for man, 73, who molested 4 stewardesses on board SIA flight​

Shaffiq Alkhatib
Apr 02, 2025

SINGAPORE - A 73-year-old man molested four cabin crew members on board a Singapore Airlines flight from San Francisco to Singapore as he found them attractive.

On April 2, retiree Balasubramanian Ramesh was sentenced to nine months’ jail after he pleaded guilty to four molestation charges, each involving one woman.

Three other similar charges involving one of the four victims, whom he molested on four separate occasions, were considered during his sentencing.

The Indian national, who used to work as a manager in a bank in India, had not consumed alcoholic drinks during the flight, the court heard.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Ashley Chin told the court that Balasubramanian was sitting in an aisle seat on board the SIA flight on Nov 18, 2024, when a 25-year-old stewardess pushed a meal cart past him at around 3.30am.

He then touched the woman’s buttock over her clothing.

Shocked by his actions, she quickly walked away, feeling uncomfortable about what had happened, the prosecutor said.


About five minutes later, a second stewardess, 26, was serving a passenger who was seated across the aisle from Balasubramanian when he touched her buttocks.

He struck again at around 9.30am, placing a hand on a 31-year-old stewardess’ upper thigh while she was helping a nearby passenger with the in-flight entertainment system.

At around 5.30pm, he touched the thigh of a 29-year-old stewardess who was helping a passenger prepare for landing.

This fourth victim, who had been warned by her colleagues to approach the accused with caution, confronted Balasubramanian, DPP Chin said.

Balasubramanian denied touching the fourth victim. But she and her male supervisor told him that they were aware that he had touched several of their colleagues inappropriately, and the police would be alerted.

The plane landed at around 6.45pm and the supervisor reported the matter to staff members at the SIA control centre, who alerted the police.

Officers arrested Balasubramanian later that day, and he was charged in court on Nov 25, 2024.

On April 2, DPP Chin urged the court to give Balasubramanian a jail sentence of up to a year and six months, stressing that he had targeted four victims in total.

Saying that her client’s offences did not involve skin-to-skin contact, defence lawyer Rezvana Fairouse pleaded for a shorter sentence.

For each count of molestation, an offender can be jailed for up to three years, fined or caned, or receive any combination of such punishments.

Balasubramanian cannot be caned as he is over 50 years old.

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

4 months’ jail for NTUC LearningHub trainer who collected over $26,000 in bribes​

Sandran Samoo was sentenced to four months’ jail and fined $26,570.ST PHOTO: KELVIN CHNG
Andrew Wong
Apr 04, 2025

SINGAPORE – A welding trainer with NTUC LearningHub told his trainees that the course he taught was difficult, but he could help them pass the course’s assessment if they each gave him between $100 and $200 or even a smaller amount they could afford.

In this manner, Sandran Samoo collected more than $26,000 in bribes from trainees from 2016 to 2022 before he was caught. The majority of his trainees were foreigners.

On April 4, the 52-year-old Malaysian was sentenced to four months’ jail and fined $26,570 after pleading guilty to five counts of conducting corrupt transactions as an agent under the Prevention of Corruption Act. Another 21 similar charges were taken into consideration for his sentencing.

Sandran, who is a Singapore permanent resident, had been employed as a welding course trainer by NTUC LearningHub from 2012.

He conducted a five-day workshop several times in a year. He also invigilated the assessment that trainees had to undergo on the final day of the course.

Those who passed the final assessment would receive a welding certificate.

Sandran gave his trainees the impression that he could influence the outcome of the assessment despite knowing that the test would be assessed by a third party.


The court heard that while there is no requirement for workers to have the certificate before they can perform welding work, most employers in Singapore would generally only allow workers to do so when they hold such a certificate.

Sandran said he told his trainees at the start of the course that it was difficult to pass the final assessment, and that the trainees’ skills were not up to par.

He then offered to help them pass if they each gave him between $100 and $200. He would also accept other amounts if the trainee could not afford the asking bribe.

Sandran was eventually caught in September 2023 when a trainee told his employer that Sandran had asked him for $150 to help him pass the assessment.

The employer alerted both NTUC and the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau, and instructed his employee not to take the assessment.

Upon further investigations, Sandran admitted that he began soliciting bribes from his trainees from as early as 2016.

He admitted to obtaining bribes totalling $350 a month on average since 2016, about $3,600 a year.

Those found guilty of partaking in corrupt transactions as agents can be jailed for up to five years, fined up to $100,000, or both.

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

Man used investors’ funds to pay off other business debt, lied that money had been stolen​

Madarssamarecar Mohamed Bagurudeen had received $865,000 from four investors into his firm.ST PHOTO: KELVIN CHNG
Andrew Wong
Apr 04, 2025

SINGAPORE – After he began to suffer losses in his money changing businesses, a man decided to use money he had received from investors to pay off his debts.

Madarssamarecar Mohamed Bagurudeen, a Singapore permanent resident, had lured investors with an investment scheme he promoted in 2017. He promised them monthly interest of up to 3 per cent for convertible loans they provided to his company for a pre-determined period.

In total, Madarssamarecar, 48, received $865,000 from four investors into his firm, The Gold Souk Investment Holding. Business records show the firm, which has been struck off, was an investment holding company.

The same business records show Madarssamarecar holds French citizenship.

But just a year later, he ran into trouble when at least two of his money changing businesses started to lose money.

He then decided to use the funds he had received from the investors to make payment on what he had owed in the form of investment returns or refunds to other clients.

He also used money from a prior arrangement with his acquaintance, referred to in court as Farook, to pay his debtors without Farook’s knowledge.

On April 4, Madarssamarecar pleaded guilty to five counts of criminal breach of trust. He will be sentenced on April 15.

The court heard investigations into Madarssamarecar had started over a different case in 2019, after Farook made a police report.

Farook said he had an arrangement since August 2018 with a man named Richard, where he would help the latter apply for cashier’s orders for the purchase of property and vehicles in Singapore.

The cash would come from Richard’s foreign clients, and Farook would receive a small commission for each transaction.

In September 2018, Farook roped Madarssamarecar into the arrangement to help him perform the transactions, in exchange for half of his commission.

Between October 2018 and January 2019, Madarssamarecar helped to obtain cashier’s orders on more than 10 occasions, pocketing commissions of at least $8,000.

In January 2019, Madarssamarecar closed the bank account he had been using to receive money from Farook. He then asked another man, Sivakumar Madivanan, 40, to help receive the money instead.

Sivakumar worked at Sarmus Exchange, which is one of Madarssamarecar’s firms. They both also ran two mini-marts together then.

On Jan 30, 2019, Farook deposited $2.7 million into Sivakumar’s account, as Richard wanted to purchase a property valued at $8.4 million, and had asked Madarssamarecar to obtain a cashier’s order for the deposit.

The next day, Farook attempted to deposit another $2.9 million into Sivakumar’s account, but the bank denied the transaction. It was not explained in court why the transaction failed to go through.

Farook then decided to hand over the $2.9 million in cash to Madarssamarecar, so that he could deposit the money himself and apply for the necessary cashier’s order.

The two met at a carpark in People’s Park Centre, where Farook handed over the money and various documents related to the purchase of property, as well as a copy of the purchaser’s passport. This was so Madarssamarecar and Sivakumar could show the documents to the bank when depositing the money.

Unknown to Farook, Madarssamarecar had been informed by Sivakumar around the same time that other moneychangers were pressing him for repayment of currencies which Extract Money Changer and Sarmus Exchange, also owned by Madarssamarecar, had purchased from them.

Madarssamarecar instructed Sivakumar to remove $500,000 from the $2.9 million received, and use it to pay the creditors.

On the same day, Madarssamarecar told Farook that he could not give him the cashier’s order for the initial $2.7 million, as the bank had questioned him.

Sceptical, Farook then asked for the $2.9 million cash to be returned to him, but Madarssamarecar was only able to return $2.4 million.

Madarssamarecar claimed the remaining $500,000 had been deposited and that he could not contact the bank account holder, leading Farook to contact the police.

The court heard that Madarssamarecar defaulted on his payments to the investors of The Gold Souk Investment Holding when investigations into Farook’s complaint began in January 2019.

To buy time, he also lied to the investors on at least two occasions that their money had been stolen in Malaysia, after he had used the funds to purchase $10 million in Malaysian ringgit.

Court documents do not provide details on the status of the $2.7 million Madarssamarecar had received from Farook.

For each count of criminal breach of trust, Madarssamarecar faces up to 20 years’ jail and a fine.

Sivakumar faces two charges for criminal breach of trust for his role in the incident. His case has been fixed for pretrial conference on April 30.

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