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[Vultan]

Updated: 09/17/2014 22:07 | By Channel NewsAsia

Former tour guide arrested for suspected criminal breach of trust

SINGAPORE: A former China tour guide, who is at the centre of a legal battle for a widow's assets, has been arrested.

Police confirmed on Wednesday (Sep 17) that 40-year-old Yang Yin was arrested for suspected criminal breach of trust. This came after police reports were lodged against him.

Yang is involved in a court battle with the niece of an elderly widow over her assets, and is currently helping in police investigations. - CNA/xy

 

[Vultan]

Trader jailed 10 months for Woodlands checkpoint breaches and customs offences

Published on Sep 19, 2014 2:04 PM

Malaysian Tan Chu Seng, who dashed across the Woodlands checkpoint in his Mercedes Benz, was jailed 10 months and fined $1,400 on Friday for offences including mischief and causing hurt by a rash act. -- ST PHOTO: WONG KWAI CHOW

By Elena Chong

SINGAPORE - The man who dashed across the Woodlands checkpoint in his Mercedes Benz was jailed 10 months and fined $1,400 on Friday for offences including mischief and causing hurt by a rash act.

Malaysian Tan Chu Seng, 64, a businessman, was also ordered to pay $2,800 compensation to the Government for damaging the security barrier in March this year.

The Singapore permanent resident had admitted to five charges with two others taken into consideration during his sentencing.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Daphne Lim had said Tan, a Singapore permanent resident, was returning to Singapore from Malaysia on March 8 when he failed to complete the necessary checks for customs clearance.

After taking out some items from his boot, he was asked to open the spare tyre compartment but he could not lift the over. He went back to the driver's seat and pretended to lift a lever. He then walked back to the rear of the car and tried to lift the spare tyre compartment but was unsuccessful.

He then went to the driver's seat a second time, and drove off. The officer shouted for help to stop him.

While driving towards the green channel, Tan hit a safety cone, which became stuck under the front bumper.

When an ICA officer asked him to stop and step out of his car, Tan nodded his head but drove off instead. The panic alarm was activated.

Five officers, including auxiliary police officer Safie Marhom, 46, chased after him. Tan continued to ignore their direction to stop.

Mr Safie was knocking continuously on the driver's door when Tan accelerated near the end of the old flexi-lane. He turned his steering wheel to the right and the car hit Mr Safie on his arm, causing him to fall. The officer was given six days' medical leave.

After hitting Mr Safie, Tan swerved to the left and mounted a kerb and overtook three stationary cars. His car also hit the raised cat claw security barrier, causing a damage of $2,800. Both the front tyres were damaged.

In the customs case, the court heard after he dashed through the checkpoint, he met a man named Ah Lao at a carpark in Ang Mo Kio. Tan sold him 20 cartons of cigarettes, for which duties have not been paid, for $800. He had earlier bought them from a peddler at Mandai for $640.

 

[Vultan]

Man jailed 4 months for threat to upload sex video online

Published on Sep 19, 2014 5:46 PM
By Elena Chong

SINGAPORE - A Malaysian national who threatened to put online a video of a woman performing intimate acts on her boyfriend if she did not pay him $1,000 was jailed for four months on Friday.

Shasvin Raj Sathiyalagan, 22, admitted to threatening a 38-year-old woman with injury to her reputation on June 14.

A district court heard that that six days before the incident, Shasvin Raj had called the victim from a Malaysian line and claimed he was her Facebook friend. He told her that during a drinking session with a Vicky, who she acknowledged was her boyfriend, he had found an intimate video of them.

He sent her the video through messaging platform WhatsApp and demanded that she pay him $1,000 in exchange for the video. He also provided an account number for the victim to transfer the money to.

 

[Vultan]

Updated: 09/26/2014 10:50 | By Channel NewsAsia

Three workers jailed for fraudulent work injury claims

SINGAPORE: Three workers were sentenced to between four and six weeks of jail each in July and August for making fraudulent work injury claims, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) said on Friday (Sep 26).

Between April and July 2013, Khan Momen, Govindan Raja and Billal Hossain Kader Molla claimed they had been injured in work-related accidents, and sought compensation from their employers under the Work Injury Compensation Act (WICA). But investigations by MOM officers found that the three had lied about the accidents, and charges were brought against them.

Said Mr Woon Cheng Peng, Deputy Director of MOM’s Work Injury Compensation Department: "When the veracity of WICA claims are in doubt, MOM conducts extensive investigations into the claims. Such investigations and subsequent prosecution of fraudulent cases take up considerable time and resources, which could have been better spent on ensuring that genuine claimants have their claims settled fairly and expeditiously.”

MOM will not hesitate to take “tough action” against fraudulent claimants, he said, adding that the ministry will also take action against errant employers who fail to fulfil their WICA obligations.

Since January this year, four workers have been convicted in court for making fraudulent WICA claims and/or furnishing false information, according to the ministry.

Those convicted of making fraudulent claims may be fined up to S$15,000 and/or jailed up to 12 months, while those convicted of furnishing false information may be fined up to S$5,000 and/or jailed up to six months. - CNA/cy

 

[Vultan]

Road rage biker who punched through VW driver's window jailed three weeks

Published on Sep 29, 2014 2:29 PM

James George Palin, 33, British National was sentenced to 3 weeks' jail for cause hurt to Chiang Pak Chieh by using his right hand to break the driver window. -- ST PHOTO: WONG KWAI CHOW

By Elena Chong

SINGAPORE - A MOTORCYCLIST who punched and shattered the window of a Volkswagen in a road rage incident on Nov 16, was sentenced to three weeks' jail yesterday. But Briton James George Palin (right), 33, is appealing against the sentence and is out on $15,000 bail.

The former regional director of a recruitment company, riding on his motorcycle on Tanjong Katong Road, had hit the bumper of a car driven by legal officer Chiang Pak Chien while overtaking him.

Mr Chiang, 43, who was with his girlfriend, Valerie Tan Hsu Phen, 42, overtook Palin, who had not stopped his motorcycle. Palin sped past him again and braked immediately in front of the car.

Mr Chiang slammed on his brakes to avoid crashing into the motorcycle and told his girlfriend to call the police. This was when Palin walked over to the driver's side and punched the glass, which shattered over the couple.

Palin fled on his bike.

Both Mr Chiang and Ms Tan, who are now married, each suffered cuts on their body, face, neck, arms and legs, and were both given a week's outpatient leave. Ms Tan, who saw a psychiatrist, was diagnosed with acute stress disorder with severe anxiety. She avoids the Tanjong Katong stretch of road where the incident happened, and gets anxious and has palpitations when she sees "aggressive looking" motorcycles, according to a psychiatric report.

Palin's lawyer Shashi Nathan said his client claimed that the car had bumped into his motorcycle.

Palin regretted what he had done, and had offered to pay for the couple's medical expenses and for the damage to the car, an offer which they had turned down.

District Judge Hamidah Ibrahim said Palin's reaction was excessive and totally disproportionate, and agreed with the prosecution that there should be a jail term. Palin could have been jailed for up to one year and fined up to $5,000 for causing hurt by doing a rash act to endanger the personal safety of others.

 

[Vultan]

Indonesian money mule jailed five years over $2.7m laundering case

Published on Sep 29, 2014 2:00 PM
By Elena Chong

SINGAPORE - A Indonesian woman was jailed for five years yesterday for laundering $2.7 million - believed to be the second-largest amount of its kind in Singapore.

Rina, a 28-year-old planner who worked in a factory in Batam and goes by one name, was asked by a Dutchman known to her as David Mark to take stolen funds amounting to $2.5 million to Malaysia.

She befriended Mark online in September 2012 and, two months later, he suggested that she work as a "money courier" for him.

Rina agreed, and he told her to pick up cash from other money mules in Singapore before handing it over to a Nigerian man, known as Benson, in Johor Baru.

 

[Vultan]

Bangladeshi worker jailed for molesting women on MRT trains

Published on Oct 1, 2014 4:30 PM
By Elena Chong

SINGAPORE - Every time he had a day off, Bangladeshi construction worker AKM Shafiul Hasan (Shuvo) spent the entire time wandering up and down MRT trains, searching for young women to molest.

Shafiul , 26, had admitted to molesting three women between April and September this year. A fourth offence, committed when he was out on court bail for the earlier offences, was taken into account.

On Wednesday, he was jailed for 14 months.

The court heard that on April 3, he had boarded the train at City Hall MRT station and sat next to a 21-year-old student and touched her breast. She quickly got up from her seat and walked to the next cabin, and later reported the incident to the SMRT staff.

 

[Vultan]

Ex-McDonald's manager jailed for pocketing $30,294

Published on Oct 7, 2014 12:24 PM
By Elena Chong

SINGAPORE - A fast food restaurant manager who misappropriated $30,294 was jailed for four months on Tuesday.

Zhou San'Guo, 31, admitted to criminal breach of trust of the amount at McDonald's restaurant at Bukit Batok East Avenue 4 at about 1am on May 13 last year. He claimed to have taken the money to repay his debts.

A district court heard that he reported for night shift at about 5.30pm on May 12 last year.

He was given a float money of $6,000 and petty cash of $500 by the part-time floor manager who worked the previous shift.

 

[Vultan]

Man, 49, jailed four months for theft on SIA flight from Sri Lanka to S'pore

Published on Oct 7, 2014 3:47 PM
By Ian Poh

SINGAPORE - A Chinese national who stole $175 from a fellow passenger on a plane was on Tuesday sentenced to eight months in prison.

Guo Yonglin, 49, pleaded guilty to stealing the money on Sept 7, on a Singapore Airlines flight from Colombo, Sri Lanka to Singapore.

The court heard that at 5.25am, an on-duty security officer seated five rows behind Guo saw him get up and walk towards a sleeping passenger, a 34-year-old Canadian.

The officer monitored Guo as he opened the compartment over the Canadian's head, removed the victim's laptop bag and took out some items after taking it to his own seat.

He confronted Guo later and the victim realised that two cash bills were missing from his wallet. The money was found in Guo's pocket, with Guo admitting that he had taken it from the laptop bag.

Further investigations showed that Guo had been travelling only with two hand-carry bags and had been in Colombo for only one night. Guo claimed he had been there on holiday, but could not remember the name of the hotel where he had stayed.

Guo could have been jailed up to three years and fined.

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[Vultan]

Accountant fined $12,500 for 'reprehensible and appalling' maid abuse

Published on Oct 13, 2014 4:45 PM

May Thu San Kyaw Nyein, 34, was fined $12,500 for maid abuse. -- ST PHOTO: WONG KWAI CHOW

By Elena Chong

SINGAPORE - An accountant who abused her maid and got her to perform humiliating acts on camera was fined more than $12,000 on Monday.

Permanent resident May Thu San Kyaw Nyein, 34, began abusing the 25-year-old woman from Myanmar barely a week into her employment in October 2012. After accusing her of not washing a prayer vase and milk bottle properly, she ordered her to do 80 squats.

Later Nyein, also from Myanmar, slapped the maid's head and pulled her hair at her home in Tanglin Road.

A Community Court heard Nyein would film the helper on CCTV and later show her footage of things she had apparently done wrong.

 

[Vultan]

Man jailed four weeks for molesting woman in MRT station lift

Published on Oct 14, 2014 12:41 PM
By Elena Chong

SINGAPORE - An Indian national who molested a woman in a lift at an MRT station was jailed for four weeks on Tuesday.

Kandasamy Krishnan, 27, who works in an electrical company, pleaded guilty to grabbing the left arm of a 28-year-old Filipino woman in an attempt to kiss her in the lift at Serangoon station on March 7 this year.

Assistant Public Prosecutor Asran Samad said the victim and Kandasamy had alighted at the MRT station at Upper Serangoon Road at about 7.45am that day.

When she took the lift to get to the street level, Kandasamy decided to follow her. He rushed in as the lift door was about to close.

 

[Vultan]

Senior engineer jailed for molesting sub-tenant

Published on Oct 14, 2014 12:24 PM
By Elena Chong

SINGAPORE - Drunk after some Christmas merriment, a Filipino man molested his sleeping flatmate.

When she woke up screaming, he was so terrified that he hid under her bed, before running off.

On Tuesday, the senior engineer was jailed for two weeks.

The 29-year-old, who pleaded guilty, was not named to protect the victim's identity.

 

[Vultan]

Four jailed and ordered to pay penalties for fraudulent GST tourist refund claims

Published on Oct 15, 2014 11:52 AM
By Elena Chong

SINGAPORE - Four Indian nationals were jailed between three and four years on Wednesday for fraudulent Goods and Services Tax (GST) tourist refund claims of about $570,000.

They were ordered to pay penalties equivalent to three times of tax undercharged.

Sundar Panneer Selvam, 46, Baskaran Uthirapathy, 28, Pounraj Natarajan, 25, and Gobi Raman, 31, had pleaded guilty to money laundering.

Three of them - Sundar, Baskaran and Pounraj - had faced bribery charges as well.

Sundar was given four years' jail and ordered to pay a penalty of $292,977; Baskaran's sentence was 31/2 years and a penalty of $237,596; while Pounraj got 45 months and a $201,130 penalty; and Gobi, three years and a $202,045 penalty.

The four were among six charged last month. The cases against former higher customs officer Mohamed Yusof Abdul Rahman, 67, and sales executive Lim Pheck Aun, 50, are pending.

The court heard that the offences came to light when the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) detected several suspicious GST refund claims through the electronic tourist refund scheme (eTRS) last year.

Subsequent investigations by IRAS, Singapore Customs and the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau showed fraudulent claims of about $570,000 in GST refunds by the group between September 2012 and January this year.

As part of their illegal scheme, the four Indian nationals paid for receipts from bona fide shoppers who had bought jewellery and obtained eTRS tickets from the jewellery retailers.

They would then present the eTRS tickets together with jewellery that were not bought by them or used gold-plated jewellery which did not match the goods described on the eTRS tickets to an airport customs officer to support their claims.

Three of them admitted giving bribes to Mohamed Yusof so that they could get approval for their false GST refund claims. After getting their refunds, they spent part of the cash on duty-free items before departing for India with the remaining cash.

District Judge Liew Thiam Leng said there is a public interest involved in this case as it is important that the effectiveness of the GST system should not be compromised. He agreed with the prosecution that there were aggravating factors - conspiracy among those involved; the offences were premeditated and well planned; and difficulty to detect such offences.

 

[Vultan]

Molester gets three years and three strokes for grabbing boy's groin

Published on Oct 16, 2014 12:53 PM
By Elena Chong

SINGAPORE- A Malaysian national was jailed for three years and ordered to be given three strokes of the cane on Thursday for molesting an 11-year-old boy.

Lee Kok Long, 26, pleaded guilty to pushing the 11-year-old boy into a toilet cubicle and grabbing his private parts at Fuchun Community Club in Woodlands on Dec 7 last year.

He also admitted to stealing two mobile phones worth $496 from a unit at Block 314 Woodlands Street 31 about eight months earlier.

The court heard that Lee was in the club's toilet when he peeped through a hole in the partition and saw the victim.

When the boy came out, Lee pushed him back in, closed the door and molested him.The boy ran away, and told his father what had happened at home.

They looked for Lee and the boy spotted him at the void deck of a block of flats in Woodlands Street 31. The father confronted Lee and called the police.

In April last year Lee had been walking along the flat corridor in the early hours of the morning when he saw, through an open door, a man asleep with two phones on another bed nearby.

He managed to get his hands on the phones with a 1.5m rod.

Lee sold one of the phones for $550, while the other was recovered when he was arrested.

He could have been jailed for up to 10 years and caned for wrongfully restraining and molesting a person under 14 years old. For theft, the maximum penalty is seven years jail and a fine.

 

[khunking]

Ex-university student gets short detention order for punching taxi driver over cab fare


PUBLISHED ON OCT 20, 2014 12:24 PM



BY IAN POH

SINGAPORE - A drunk university student who punched a taxi driver in the head several times over a $16.97 fare, leaving him bloodied from a deep cut on his forehead, was sentenced to a short detention order of two weeks on Monday.
In April last year, Zeng Zhuangyong, 25, had alighted from cabby Poon Cher Ming's vehicle after vomiting in it but tried to leave without paying. After the short struggle that followed, Zeng straddled the 54-year-old as he lay on the ground and punched him repeatedly while swearing at him.
The short detention order is one of the community sentencing options under the Criminal Procedure Code, aimed at giving more flexibility to the courts. It is less disruptive and stigmatising than jail.
Zeng, then a student at Singapore Management University, pleaded guilty to hurting Mr Poon along Lorong 4 Toa Payoh on April 28 last year.

 

[Vultan]

Rubbish truck driver gets $2,500 fine and 1-year ban for hitting bus and injuring nine

Published on Oct 21, 2014 12:43 PM
By Elena Chong

SINGAPORE - A rubbish truck driver was given the maximum fine of $2,500 and banned from driving for 12 months on Tuesday for hurting nine passengers on a public bus in Tampines.

Chinese national Luo Yuming, 40, admitted to the negligent act to endanger the personal safety of others by failing to keep a proper lookout ahead, thus causing the truck to hit the back of a stationary SBS bus along Tampines Avenue 10 on July 28 this year.

A court heard that Luo was driving the garbage truck along Tampines Ave 10 that morning when he rammed into the back of SBS Service 27, which had stopped at the bus stop to allow passengers to board and alight.

According to Luo, he had blacked out momentarily at the time and regained consciousness only upon collision.

 

[Vultan]

Two-week detention for youth who punched cabby

Ian Poh The Straits Times Thursday, Oct 23, 2014

A drunk university student punched a taxi driver in the head several times over a $16.97 fare last year. Zeng Zhuangyong, who has since graduated, was yesterday sentenced to a two-week short detention order.

The short detention order is a community sentencing option that is intended to be less disruptive and stigmatising than jail.

On April 28 last year, Zeng, now 25, alighted from Mr Poon Cher Ming's vehicle after vomiting in it and tried to leave without paying. The cabby grabbed hold of Zeng twice to stop him from leaving. Zeng responded with a punch both times.

Mr Poon then grabbed Zeng a third time and both men fell to the ground after a short struggle.

Zeng then straddled the 54-year-old, who was lying on the ground, and punched him repeatedly while swearing at him. The cabby was left bloodied from a deep cut on his forehead.

Zeng, who was then a student at Singapore Management University, pleaded guilty to hurting Mr Poon in Lorong 4 Toa Payoh around 3am.

Assistant Public Prosecutor Puvaneswari Sandirasekaran said Zeng had been intoxicated at the time, and had assaulted a public transport worker in the wee hours of the morning.

Zeng's lawyer, Mr Sunil Sudheesan, said his client was 23 at the time and comes from a good family.

Pointing out that Zeng had paid $5,000 in compensation to Mr Poon to show his remorse, Mr Sudheesan said that what had happened was a one-off incident that represented a "total departure" from Zeng's character.

Mr Sudheesan added that Zeng had graduated recently from SMU and wants to pursue a career in the finance sector.

Zeng could have been jailed for up to two years and fined up to $5,000 for voluntarily hurting the cabby.

 

[Vultan]

Re: July 10 sentencing for lorry driver who parked in middle of expressway


Vietnamese pimps jailed

Ronald Loh The New Paper Monday, Oct 27, 2014

A Vietnamese man conspired with his wife, her sister and their mother to prostitute two Vietnamese women in Singapore.

On Tuesday, Nguyen Duy Binh, 27, and his wife, Nguyen Thi Phuong Chau, 42, pleaded guilty to abetting with others to live off the prostitutes' earnings.

The couple were each jailed two months.

Court papers revealed that Phuong Chau's younger sister, Pho Chau, had arranged for the two Vietnamese women to work in Singapore. The women were 18 and 24 years old.

Pho Chau, 37, arranged their plane tickets and accommodation.

In return, they each owed her $1,200 in agent fees.

They also had to pay her $18 every day for their lodging and meals.

Pho Chau told them they could work as hostesses or prostitutes to earn money.

Pho Chau's brother-in-law, Binh, picked both women up from the airport when they arrived in Singapore in September this year.

He admitted to receiving the women, knowing they came to Singapore for the purpose of prostitution.

Court papers said he accompanied one of the women in a taxi to their accommodation at Joo Chiat Lane.

JOO CHIAT BARS

The two women worked at bars in Joo Chiat to earn tips and secure customers for sexual services. One also worked at Orchard Towers.

The women also worked as prostitutes in Joo Chiat and Geylang.

The younger woman secured a total of 50 customers, charging between $100 and $200. The two women serviced a total of 66 customers. Binh and Phuong Chau helped Pho Chau collect a total of $1,700 from the duo as part of the agent fees.

On Sept 22, police acted on a tip-off and raided a home in Joo Chiat.

The couple were arrested and police seized tubes of lubricants and slabs of birth-control pills.

On Tuesday, the couple asked in mitigation for a lenient sentence so they could return to Vietnam where their three-year-old daughter is, reported Chinese daily Lianhe Wanbao.

The sisters' mother is still at large.

 

[Vultan]

Teen spared jail term, gets probation for underage sex

Published on Oct 28, 2014 5:27 PM
By Elena Chong

SINGAPORE - A full-time national serviceman was spared a jail term and given probation on Tuesday for underage sex with a minor.

Gil Dominic Barbosa Rojas, 19, a Singapore permanent resident, had faced 16 offences including four under the Children and Young Persons Act.

He was 16 and a student at the time while the victim was between 12 and 13.

He had pleaded guilty to three charges of having sex with a woman under 16 years old and one of committing an indecent act with the girl, then 13.

 

[Vultan]

Malaysian drug trafficker escapes death penalty under amended laws

Published on Oct 28, 2014 8:57 PM
By Selina Lum

SINGAPORE - A 29-year-old Malaysian condemned to hang in 2009 for drug trafficking had his death sentence commuted on Tuesday to life imprisonment as he was intellectually challenged and suffering from depression at the time.

Wilkinson Primus, who looked relaxed in court, was spared the gallows under amended laws that give judges the discretion to impose life terms on drug traffickers who suffer from an "abnormality of mind" that substantially reduce their mental responsibility for their acts.

He was riding a motorcycle into Singapore on Nov 3, 2008 when he was arrested at the Woodlands Checkpoint. A bundle in the basket of the motorcycle was later analysed to contain 35.66g of heroin.

Wilkinson was given the then-mandatory death penalty in 2009 after he was convicted of drug trafficking.