Pastor jailed two weeks for tampering with fuel gauge and lying to officer

[Kratos]

Pastor jailed two weeks for tampering with fuel gauge and lying to officer

AsiaOne
Friday, Jul 20, 2012

A church pastor tampered with his car's fuel indicator, and lied to an immigration officer about it.

For giving false information under the Customs Act, Steven Yang Suan Piau, 47, was sentenced to two weeks' jail.

Yang tried to drive to Malaysia with about a quarter tank of fuel in his car.

His car indicator, however, showed that he had a three-quarter tank of petrol.

There is a three-quarter tank rule for vehicles leaving Singapore.

At around midnight on Jan 3 at the Woodlands Checkpoint, an immigration officer questioned Yang about the indicator, and Yang said twice that the indicator was correct and that the fuel gauge had not been tampered with.

Another charge of failing to comply with the three-quarter tank rule was also considered.

The pastor at Eternal Life Baptist Church in Kim Keat Road is appealing against the sentence and is out on $15,000 bail until the appeal hearing.

 

[hokkien]

Appeal could land into more troubles

 

[slidingbolt]

I cannot believe this protectionist law is still in place. For crying out loud.

 

[lianbeng]

lianbeng noted recently many pastors and preachers go to court to preach to all!"thou shalt not lie."

 

[TIE Interceptor]

Pastor questions jail term for false information
By Ashley Chia, TODAY | Posted: 24 August 2012 0604 hrs

SINGAPORE: The lawyer of a church pastor, who was sentenced to two weeks in jail for giving false information under the Customs Act, on Thursday questioned if a "blanket sentence" had been imposed "mechanically and religiously".

In the appeal against the sentence, lawyer Peter Ong said Senior District Judge See Kee Oon had "failed to consider" that he had the discretion to impose a fine, instead of a custodial sentence.

The judge had imposed a jail term on Steven Yang Suan Piau, a pastor at Eternal Life Baptist Church, after he lied to an immigration officer.

On Jan 3, Yang had attempted to leave Singapore for Malaysia without the required amount of fuel, or at least three-quarters of the tank, in his car.

When asked by the immigration officer, Yang maintained that his car's fuel indicator - which showed it was three-quarters full - was accurate and that the fuel gauge had not been tampered with.

However, an inspection of the car found it had less than one-quarter tank of fuel.

On Thursday, Mr Ong questioned if the Senior District Judge had placed previous sentencing precedents "on an altar and obsessively worshipped them".

In 64 of the 67 cases between 2009 and May this year, jail terms of at least one to two weeks were imposed.

Two other cases attracted fines, while the last was taken into consideration during sentencing for other offences, Mr Ong noted.

The penalty for giving false information under the Customs Act is a fine of up to S$5,000 or jail term of up to a year, or both, and Mr Ong argued Parliament did not prescribe a minimum sentence for the offence and had left it to the discretion of the courts.

The lawyer also drew similarities to the recent case of Woffles Wu, who was fined S$1,000 for giving false information to the police about his speeding offences.

In both cases, the false information given was to evade a small speeding fine or a "small amount of excise duty on petrol", said Mr Ong.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Sarah Lam, however, said Yang's sentence was adequate as he had deliberately misled the immigration officer.

The appeal was adjourned to a further date. - TODAY

 

[Space Invaders]

Church pastor's jail term reduced to fine in fuel tank tampering case
By Claire Huang | Posted: 30 October 2012 1629 hrs

SINGAPORE: A church pastor, who was sentenced to two weeks' jail for giving false information to authorities, has been let off with a fine following an appeal.

Steven Yang Suan Piau, a pastor at Eternal Life Baptist Church, had attempted to leave Singapore for Malaysia on January 3 this year without the mandatory amount of fuel in his car.

Under the law, a vehicle must have at least three-quarters of fuel in the tank.

When asked by the customs officer, Yang lied that he had fulfilled the requirement and that the fuel gauge was not tampered with.

He was sentenced to two weeks' jail by Senior District Judge See Kee Oon, but he made an appeal in the High Court.

In his judgement on Tuesday, Chief Justice Chan Sek Keong said the district judge had given Yang the benchmark sentence of two weeks, even though this case is "relatively not a serious offence".

He pointed out that Yang had lied to the officer and this is punishable with a jail term. Still, the chief justice noted that custodial sentence is for repeat offenders.

He pointed out that Yang is a first offender and a heavy fine would suffice.

Describing the jail term as "inappropriate and disproportionate", CJ Chan said a fine of $4,000 is to be imposed instead of the two-week jail term.

Under the Customs Act, the maximum penalty is a fine of up to $5,000 and jail term of up to one year, or both.

- CNA/de

 

[Donor]

I have seen alot of rich pastors. Most of them staying in Bukit Timah area.

 

[Deleted member 105665]

who will want to employ such pastor again and many last saw him in ang mo kio hub selling toys in the moving cart near singtel shop few years back poor thing but he deserve it, by the way he is a gay touch guys leh yucks so dirty like the provision shop fucking ji bye uncle in blk 330 ang mo kio ave 1 in 1990s like to touch kids in news too, this fucking lan jiao uncle think got no children to send him in funeral but he derserve it

Pastor jailed two weeks for tampering with fuel gauge and lying to officer

AsiaOne
Friday, Jul 20, 2012

A church pastor tampered with his car's fuel indicator, and lied to an immigration officer about it.

For giving false information under the Customs Act, Steven Yang Suan Piau, 47, was sentenced to two weeks' jail.

Yang tried to drive to Malaysia with about a quarter tank of fuel in his car.

His car indicator, however, showed that he had a three-quarter tank of petrol.

There is a three-quarter tank rule for vehicles leaving Singapore.

At around midnight on Jan 3 at the Woodlands Checkpoint, an immigration officer questioned Yang about the indicator, and Yang said twice that the indicator was correct and that the fuel gauge had not been tampered with.

Another charge of failing to comply with the three-quarter tank rule was also considered.

The pastor at Eternal Life Baptist Church in Kim Keat Road is appealing against the sentence and is out on $15,000 bail until the appeal hearing.

 

[bobby]

This should be a case of saving some of your own money and not cheating the gahmen.

 

[borom]

Nov 12, 2017 : "But global trade has allowed many countries to prosper, he told fellow Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) leaders, saying he firmly believes "we should foster more and freer trade to continue to prosper "- LHL

Haha , he should start the free trade process by removing the 3/4 tank rule.

 

[kezgtree]

In sinkieland u don't go n cheat the pappy..Just take a look at the C T harvest case..50 millions only 3-4 yrs jail...becoz that are all other ppl $$$... enuf say