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[Imperial Cruiser]

Drunk lorry driver jailed 20 months for causing death

Published on May 16, 2012
By Elena Chong

An Indian national had more than twice the legal limit for drink driving when his lorry rammed into three pedestrians, one of whom died as a result.

Muthukrishnan Gunasekaran, 39, was jailed for 20 months and banned from driving for six years.

He pleaded guilty on Wednesday to causing the death of Indian national Natarajan Sugumar, 25, by doing a rash act; causing grievous hurt to two other pedestrians and his front-seat passenger; and driving when he had 76mcg alcohol per 100ml of breath along Toh Guan Road East on Feb 15, 2010.

A district court heard that he had whisky the night before with a friend at a coffeeshop.

Read the full story in Wednesday's edition of The Straits Times.

 

[Krizalid]

China national jailed for fake gold scam

Published on May 16, 2012

-- PHOTO: SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE

They say all that glitters is not gold.

A housewife found this out to her cost after buying ingots and Buddha statues from two men who claimed to have unearthed them on a construction site.

They told her the items were antiques made of real gold, and even gave her a sample to test. But after handing over $110,000, she discovered they were fakes.

On Tuesday, China national Yang Zhenming was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in jail.

Read the full story in Wednesday's edition of The Straits Times.

 

[Mukai]

Man caught smuggling $100k worth of drugs in tissue box

Published on May 17, 2012

A suspected smuggler was arrested on Wednesday after more than $100,000 worth of drugs were found hidden inside a tissue box.

The 28-year-old Malaysian was detained at the Woodlands Checkpoint after a Home Team officer searching his car noticed that the cardboard container seemed suspiciously heavy.

The cover was removed, to reveal a bundle wrapped in black masking tape nestling inside.

It was later found to contain about 500g of a substance believed to be crystal methamphetamine, also known as Ice.

Read the full story in Thursday's edition of The Straits Times.

 

[Klytus]

Serial mobile phone thief arrested

AsiaOne
Monday, May 21, 2012

SINGAPORE - A Malaysian man has been arrested for a spate of mobile phone thefts.

The police had received several reports of stolen display mobile phones since July 2011. The mobile phone shops were located in Marina Square Shopping Centre, Millenia Walk, Suntec City Shopping Centre, People's Park Centre and The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands.

Investigations led officers from the Central Police Division to the 27-year-old suspect. He was arrested at One Raffles Link on May 20 at about 7.50pm.

Two mobile phones, believed to be stolen, and a set of tools were also found in his possession. Preliminary investigations also revealed that he was involved in other similar cases islandwide.

The suspect will be charged in Court on May 22 for theft in dwelling. He faces up to seven years' jail and a possible fine. [email protected]

 

[Mukai]

Mongolian fined $4,000 for cheating at MBS casino

Published on May 23, 2012

Khorloo Khaliun had a lot to drink when he committed his offences, says his lawyer. -- PHOTO: SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE

A Mongolian employment pass holder who cheated a croupier at a three-card poker game at Marina Bay Sands was fined $4,000 on Tuesday.

Khorloo Khaliun, 44, a director at Mongolia Ship Registry, admitted to cheating Ms Zeng Jing by placing more money on top of his original bet to get a bigger payout.

He did this after the cards had been distributed and viewed and the croupier had declared the result, to deceive her into believing that he had placed a larger bet.

He also admitted to a second charge of attempted cheating by the same method.

Read the full story in Wednesday's edition of The Straits Times.

 

[Klytus]

Vietnamese woman jailed for cheating by swapping iPhones

Published on May 23, 2012

Another Vietnamese national involved in swopping of iPhones to cheat several mobile phone shops was jailed for 24 months on Wednesday. -- PHOTO: AFP
By Elena Chong

Another Vietnamese national involved in swopping of iPhones to cheat several mobile phone shops was jailed for 24 months on Wednesday.

Tong Thi Ngoc Minh, 28, had duped eight shops in various locations of a total of $7,680 together with her accomplice, Nguyen Van Huu, 33, last October.

She pleaded guilty to three counts of cheating by inducing the victims to hand over between $800 and $1,250 on the pretext that they would sell them an original black and an original white iPhone.

The court heard that Tong had lived in Singapore between 2006 and 2010 during her marriage to a Singaporean. She then left for Vietnam.

Read the full story in Wednesday's edition of The Straits Times.

 

[Cloud]

Indonesian maid jailed 12 months for stealing $12,600

Published on May 23, 2012
By Elena Chong

An Indonesian maid was jailed a total of 12 months on Wednesday for stealing her employer's ATM card and making unauthorised withdrawals.

Ratna Muhammad, 34, stole a total of $12,600 from her employer, Madam Mah Puay Hoon, 86, on 72 occasions between Oct 3, 2011 and March 22 this year.

She admitted to five counts of theft of the ATM card from Madam Mah at her Namly Avenue home, and another five counts of stealing between $400 and $1,000 from ATMs in Holland Village and National University Hospital, Kent Ridge. The total amount in the proceeded charges is $2,800.

A district court heard that she would steal Madam Mah's ATM card from her wallet, withdraw money from the ATM and remit it to her family in Indonesia.

Read the full story in Wednesday's edition of The Straits Times.

 

[Cloud]

Maid stole from boss after memorising ATM PIN

Published on May 24, 2012

Indonesian maid Ratna Muhammad, 34, was jailed a year for stealing from her 86-year-old employer. -- PHOTO: SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE

An Indonesian maid went with her aged employer to the ATM often enough to memorise the personal identification number (PIN).

Between last October and March, Ratna Muhammad, 34, stole 86-year-old Mah Puay Hoon's DBS ATM card 72 times.

With it, she made her way to ATMs, mostly in Holland Village and the National University Hospital at Kent Ridge, withdrawing sums of $100 to $1,000 each time. None of the $12,600 she stole has been recovered.

On Wednesday, the maid pleaded guilty and was jailed a year on the 20 charges of theft of an ATM card the court proceeded on; the sum run up in those charges came to $2,800.

Read the full story in Thursday's edition of The Straits Times.

 

[Alto Saotome]

Re: Bedok murder-suicide: Man suspected wife of having affair


Girl attacked at home: Rapist fails in appeal

Published on May 24, 2012
By Selina Lum

A rapist who met his victim through a 'making friends' column in a teen magazine has had his appeal dismissed.

Wang Jianbin, 25, attacked the schoolgirl in her bedroom after fighting off a male friend of hers who tried to stop him.

He later challenged his sentence of 13 years of jail and 15 strokes of the cane, but it was upheld on Wednesday by the Court of Appeal.

Justice Chao Hick Tin said it was a horrendous case that was unusual, as the rapist had gone to the victim's home and attacked her in the presence of others.

Read the full story in Thursday's edition of The Straits Times.

 

[Klytus]

Flight steward jailed for bribing cop he molested

Published on May 29, 2012

Rinosh Joseph Noble, 32 yrs-old lndian National works for Qatar Airway as a fight steward was sentenced to 4 weeks' jail and fined $10,000 for offer a gratification to a police officer to refrain from arresting him for outrage of modesty. -- ST PHOTO: WONG KWAI CHOW

By Khushwant Singh

A flight steward with Qatar Airways outraged the modesty of an undercover policeman in a toilet in The Verge shopping centre at Serangoon Road at 2pm on March 21.

When placed under arrest, Rinosh Joseph Noble, 33, tried to bribe his way out of trouble. He offered $100 to the cop and two other officers who were on anti-crime rounds at the shopping centre.

On Tuesday, Noble, an Indian national, was jailed a month and fined $10,000 for offering the bribe. He had received a stern police warning for molesting the officer.

His lawyer, Mr Subhas Anandan, said that his client was an exceptionally talented individual. having graduated with a first class honours degree in engineering in India. The court also heard that Noble was a very good singer and had qualified for vocal training at the London School of Music.

Read the full story in Tuesday's edition of The Straits Times.

 

[Shermie]

Butt molester gets 6 months' jail
Posted: 01 June 2012 1716 hrs

SINGAPORE: He groped her left buttock while she was on her way to the toilet at a pub.

Five minutes later, 35-year-old Ramasamy Ramesh, an Indian national, touched the 24-year-old woman's buttock again when she came out of the toilet.

For that, Ramesh, who is a construction worker, was jailed six months on Friday for two counts of outraging the modesty of the woman.

The court heard that on 2 September 2011, Ramesh and the woman were at a pub "Prince of Wales Backpacker Pub" at 101 Dunlop Street.

Ramesh did not order anything but instead stood at the corridor leading to the toilets.

He then molested the woman twice as she passed him along the corridor.

MediaCorp understands that Ramesh was drunk at the time of the offences.

For outrage of modesty, he could have been jailed up to two years and fined.

- CNA/ck

 

[Krizalid]

Restaurant partners fined for lying to MOM

The New Paper
Friday, Jun 01, 2012

SINGAPORE - Two partners of Pinoy Cuisine restaurant were each fined $5,000 on Tuesday for making a false declaration to the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) in a work pass application.

Singaporean Jackson Tan, 44, also known as Muhammad Rafiq Tan Abdullah, and Canares Lualhati Sikat, a Filipino national who is a Singapore permanent resident, pleaded guilty.

Another charge of employing a foreigner without a valid work pass was taken into consideration.

The two men paid an employment pass holder $1,600 a month from Jan 7, 2011, to Feb 7 this year.

But they lied to MOM that the pay was $2,500 to satisfy the salary criterion for work pass applications.

This article was first published in The New Paper.

 

[Alto Saotome]

Sri Lankans charged with snatch theft at Little India shop

Published on Jun 4, 2012
By Elena Chong

Four Sri Lankan nationals were charged in court on Monday with stealing seven gold chains from a shop in Little India.

Mohamed Niyabdeen Mohamed Hisam, 31, Mohamed Nafik Nilamdeen Mohamed Nafik, 35, Jayasinghe Mudiyanselage Anushka, 30, and Fahir Mohamed ishak, 29, are accused of having the 'common intention' to use criminal force to steal seven pieces of gold chains totalling $37,030 from sales assistant Thevar Indera Periayyah, 58.

The alleged offence took place at Minora Jewels at Dunlop Street at about 7.35pm on May 30.

They are remanded at the central police division lock-up for investigation.

Read the full story in Monday's edition of The Straits Times.

 

[khunking]

Korean student, 16, faces more molest charges (via ST iPhone App)

Korean student, 16, faces more molest charges (via ST iPhone App)

A young Korean student charged earlier with one count of molestation was accused of six more counts on Thursday. -- ST PHOTO A YOUNG Korean student charged earlier with one count of molestation was accused of six more counts on Thursday. The seven charges against Jung Suk Won, 16, state that he outraged the modesty of the victims aged 15 to 29 in the Dover and Buona Vista areas between August 2010 and Jan 2011. He is said to have approached the victims from behind, covered their mouths and molested them at mostly void decks. If convicted, he faces a jail term of up to two years or fine or caning or any combination on each charge. His case is scheduled for a pre-trial conference on March 1.

 

[Westwood]

Woman taken into ICA custody after court grants her a discharge

Published on Jun 5, 2012

Nguyen Thi Hanh, 53, will probably be repatriated to Vietnam to face charges for allegedly running a transnational soccer gambling syndicate. The court heard there is an Interpol Red Notice for her arrest worldwide. -- ST PHOTO: WONG KWAI CHOW

By Khushwant Singh

A Vietnamese woman was placed in custody by Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) officers immediately after she was granted a discharge for immigration offences on Tuesday.

Nguyen Thi Hanh, 53, will probably be repatriated to Vietnam to face charges for allegedly running a transnational soccer gambling syndicate. The court heard there is an Interpol Red Notice for her arrest worldwide.

The prosecution had unsuccessfully argued for her bail of $15,000 to be revoked as she had lied about her hotel rooms to ICA.

In reply, defence counsel Christopher Bridges said that Nguyen did tell ICA she was residing in Hotel Michael in Sentosa but the discrepancies in the room numbers could have arose because she does not know English.

Read the full story in Wednesday's edition of The Straits Times.

 

[Ultimate Warrior]

Maid jailed 6 months for attempting to poison woman

Published on Jun 5, 2012
By Elena Chong

An Indonesian maid was jailed for six months on Tuesday for trying to cause a maid agency employee to drink water mixed with car polish liquid.

Fitriani Atang Efendi, 25, admitted to attempting to cause hurt by means of poison at Block 398 Yishun Ring Road on April 22.

A district court heard that Fitriani had run away from her employer and was housed at the BCS Employment Services at Yishun Ring Road.

The court was not told why she poured the car liquid polisher into the water dispenser that day in an attempt to cause Ms Jenny Chua Wah Kheng, 41, a customer service officer, to drink the water mixed with car polishing liquid. She was captured on CCTV.

Read the full story in Wednesday's edition of The Straits Times.

 

[Shermie]

China national jailed 3 years, 3 months for gold scam

Published on Jun 7, 2012

Zhong Shuidong, 32, was jailed for three years and three months on Thursday for duping an elderly man into handing over $140,000 for fake gold ingots and Buddha statues -- ST PHOTO: WANG HUI FEN

By Elena Chong

A Chinese national was jailed for three years and three months on Thursday for duping an elderly man into handing over $140,000 for fake gold ingots and Buddha statues.

Zhong Shuidong, 32, is the second Chinese national to be dealt with over the gold scam.

He was convicted after a five-day hearing of conning 78-year-old Toh Boon Kuay of the money together with alleged accomplice Toh Jian Ming, also a Chinese national who is on the run. Zhong's defence is one of mistaken identity.

But District Judge John Ng was satiisfied that the victim did not make a mistake from identifying Zhong in the identification parade and photos shown to him.

Read the full story in Friday's edition of The Straits Times.

 

[Windsorlou]

13 nabbed on suspicion of working here illegally

Published on Jun 8, 2012
By Amelia Tan Hui Fang

The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) has arrested 13 foreign workers believed to be working illegally as cleaners at a food centre at Block 115, Bukit Merah View.

The arrests were made on May 30 during an inspection, an MOM spokesman said. Of the 13, 10 were student pass holders, and the remaining three were on social visit passes.

The workers, believed to be in their 20s, were mostly from India. The MOM spokesman said they may be prosecuted or repatriated.

Offenders of the Employment of Foreign Manpower Act face a maximum punishment of a $15,000 fine and a year in prison.

Read the full story in Friday's edition of The Straits Times.

 

[Akuma]

Woman helped syndicate make purchases with stolen credit cards

AsiaOne
Thursday, Jun 14, 2012

A woman who joined a syndicate stealing credit cards to make purchases has been sentenced to four and a half years in jail.

Yee Kwee Lan, an unemployed woman, faced the court on 35 charges and was found guilty on eight charges of conspiring to cheat.

The 44-year-old Singapore permanent resident was found guilty of making purchases of up to $21,700 on credit cards stolen from the mail.

According to The Straits Times (ST), the syndicate had stolen the credit cards from postal mail sent out by various banks to its clients in Singapore.

The paper also reported that the woman had earlier owed loansharks a total of RM20,000 ($8,058).

She had approached a friend, known only as Ng, to borrow money so she could repay her debts. Ng then recommended her a job at the syndicate.

Yee was promised a 5 per cent commission from the total price of goods purchased and offered $200 for food and lodging.

As part of her job, Yee used credit cards handed to her by an accomplice to buy specific items, mainly gold jewellery.

It appears that the accomplice was in charge of driving her around during the purchasing trips, and even prepared a number of fake identity cards for her.

Yee was arrested at a jewellery store on New Bridge Road, less than a month after she had started working for the syndicate.

[email protected]

 

[Orochi]

4 Colombian men arrested for residential break-ins

AsiaOne
Friday, Jun 15, 2012

SINGAPORE - Four Colombian men were arrested by the police between June 13 and 14 in connection with a spate of break-ins in Ang Mo Kio and Yio Chu Kang.

The arrest of the men aged between 33 and 43 started with officers re-acting to information of suspicious men along Upper Serangoon Road.

Officers spotted three men who were behaving suspiciously and approached them. Though one of the men ran away the other two were detained.

Further checks revealed cash of various currencies, assortments of jewellery and gold bars amounting to a total value of about $300,000. In addition, housebreaking implements such as screwdrivers, mallets and clamps were also found in one of the bags.

After the arrest of the two men, the police were able to determine the whereabouts of the suspect who fled and another man.

The other two were arrested in Geylang on June 14. Further investigations revealed that the men were involved in three other break-ins at the private residential units at Ang Mo Kio and Yio Chu Kang area.

If found guilty, the four men can face a jail term of up to 14 years.

[email protected]