Man fleeing bail double fail

[General Veers]

Man fleeing bail double fail
Lina Chan

<cite style="display: block; font-style: normal; font-size: 10px; margin-top: 4px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 4px; margin-left: 0px; ">(Pic / Channel NewsAsia)</cite>
A wanted criminal attempted to flee Singapore with another man’s passport, but was caught anyway because the original owner of the passport was also a wanted criminal.

The gaffe was however, not discovered until the man was convicted and serving jail time.

Tan Thiam Chye, 40, had tried to use a forged passport which bore his own photo but details belonging to another man, Yap Yew Fatt, 40, to get through the Woodlands checkpoint in February last year.

Tan was wanted for 11 drug-related charges when he attempted to flee before his trial. Yap, also wanted, faces less serious charges of illegal hawking.

While pretending to be Yap, Tan was arrested at the checkpoint and sent to the Jurong Police Division.

There, police officers scanned Tan’s fingerprints and found a match in the system, which matched Tan’s photo on the passport. But the officers failed to notice that the passport details did not match Tan.

Tan kept up his masquerade and was eventually sentenced to 43 days’ jail for Yap’s offences in October last year. Tan’s drug offences carry heavier penalties, including a jail time of 5 to 7 years, and 3 to 6 strokes of the cane on each charge.

Tan’s act continued even when he was sent to the Changi Prison Complex. There, his fingerprints were checked again but the results proved “inconclusive”, possibly due to poor quality prints.

It was only about a month later on 11 November, that a prison officer discovered something amiss when Yap’s picture was different from the man in jail.

On the case, the prosecution is asking for Tan’s convictions under Yap’s name to be set aside to prevent “serious injustice” in the future if Yap gets caught for his offences. Yap is currently still at large.

On Tan’s case, Justice V.K. Rajah has also commented that Tan “is the sole author of his predicament”.

Tan is now in custody and awaiting trial for his own offences. His impersonation act will also be investigated.

 

[Mukai]

Man avoided drug charges by imposing as another in jail

AsiaOne
Friday, Jun 22, 2012

SINGAPORE - A drug offender, who was serving a jail sentence while posing as another man, has been sentenced for his own drug-related offences after he was found out by a prison officer.

According to a Straits Times report, a prison officer noticed that there were large discrepancies between the way the inmate, Yap Yew Fatt, looked in real life and in photograph records.

Subsequent investigations revealed that Tan Thiam Chye, 41, appeared in court as Yap and was serving a 43-day jail sentence for possessing uncustomed goods, illegal hawking and loss of contact under Enlistment Regulations on his behalf.

Tan had taken Yap's identity when he tried to flee Singapore on a forged passport made in Yap Yew Fatt's name.

He was arrested for Yap's offences at the Woodlands checkpoint on October 12, 2011.

He then appeared as Yap on October 14 and 21 and was sentenced to a fine of $30,100 or 43 days in jail in default.

Tan faced the court again as himself on June 19 and was sentenced to eight years and three months in jail and three strokes of the cane for his drug offences.

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