How Kovan double muderer Iskandar executed his plan
According to the prosecution, Iskandar was planning to rob the elder Tan on 10 July, which was the last day for him to pay back his debt to OCBC. Lau retraced the steps that Iskandar took.
- Iskandar impersonated an officer from the Police Intelligence Division and warned Tan that his safe deposit box at Certis CISCO was going to be broken into
- He retrieved a dummy CCTV camera from his home, enclosed it in a box and told Tan to put it within his safe deposit box before 3pm that same day
-He told Tan to remove his valuables from the safe deposit box so he can have access to them
-He brought with him a security pass, a warrant card and a mock walkie-talkie
-He wore the same uniform as when he was an investigation officer
-He rented a car to appear more professional instead of riding on his scooter
-He escorted Tan, who had taken the valuables from the safe deposit box, to his house
A bag of valuables, consisting of old notes worth more than $200,000, was left behind in the house on the day of the said attack, the court was told.
The investigation officer of the murder case, Deputy Superintendent Daniel Wong, said the bag was only found eight days after the incident at the storage area under the staircase of the house.
Iskandar’s financial problems
Iskandar began to face financial problems after divorcing his wife in early 2005. He was unable to pay the loans for his flat and car, and was forced to have them sold by OCBC. Despite that, he still owed $60,000 to the bank as of June 2012.
A bank employee in charge of unsecured debt facilities contacted Iskandar on 3 July 2013 to settle the matter out-of-court for $50,000.
During the same period, Iskandar’s superiors discovered his financial troubles, and he had to attend disciplinary proceedings. He informed them that he would be getting help from a “cousin”, and investigations revealed the said “cousin” did not exist. At the time of the murder, Iskandar only had less than $400 in his bank account at the time.
