http://www.singaporemind.blogspot.com/
Friday, September 18, 2009
<!-- Begin .post -->Singapore Justice is sometimes baffling....
In Oct 2005, I wrote about a case in which a woman was sentenced to 11 years jail for a 1 hour shoplifting spree [Link]. She stole a few bangles and wallets. Yesterday, there was a report about a Briton working in Singapore who stole $13,000 from his managing director (see article below). The same man was also guilty of forging an employment letter by altering his annual salary from US$45K to US$100K. For his crimes, he was fined a total of $23K which is extremely small sum for him because he came from a rich family. 11 yrs for shoplifting and a small fine for stealing $13K.
Here is a case of a kleptomaniac charged for stealing $2335 worth of goods[Link]... despite her mental illness she was given a jail sentence. Another case of a man who stole $2500 worth of scrap metal jailed for several weeks[Link]. Here is one guy who was jailed for 33 months for stealing the handbags of prostitutes. 3 weeks jail for a cabby who kept the belongings left in his cab by absent minded passengers [Link]. A woman who used another persons credit card to pay $4700 worth of goods was jailed for 28 months[Link].
Somehow the sentencing is sometimes inconsistent with what ordinary Singaporeans think of the justice system. We generally accept that our system is strict and if you steal something, you can expect to go to jail.
----------------
Ex-M1 CEO's son fined
By Elena Chong, Courts Correspondent
.
Briton Alexander Montefiore (left) stole a total of $13,000 from its managing director, Mr William Louis Selig, using his DBS debit card. -- ST PHOTO: WONG KWAI CHOW
.
THE son of former MobileOne chief executive was fined a total of $23,000 on Friday for theft from his boss and forgery.Briton Alexander Montefiore, 28, a former sales trader of Cantor Fitzgerald, a financial services company, stole a total of $13,000 from its managing director, Mr William Louis Selig, using his DBS debit card. He had admitted to two charges of theft by withdrawing $2,000 each time from Mr Selig's DBS account on Nov 7 and 26 last year.
He also pleaded guilty to forging an employment letter issued by the company by altering his annual salary from US$45,000 to US$100,000 on Nov 14. Five other theft charges were taken into consideration during his sentencing.Montefiore, now unemployed, is the son of former MobileOne chief Neil Montefiore.The court was told that Mr Selig had entrusted his DBS ATM card and PIN number to Alexander Montefiore for making withdrawals.On Nov 26 when Mr Selig returned to his office and found his DBS ATM card missing from his wallet, he suspected Montefiore of taking it. He later discovered that Montefiore had made six unauthorised withdrawals without his permission. Lawyer Suresh Damodara submitted more than a dozen testimonials and letters attesting to his client's good conduct to show that what he did was out of character.Among them was from Mr Selig, who had forgiven Montefioire, who had also paid back the money before he was charged. Consultant psychiatrist Brian Yeo, said Montefiore was found to have a depressive disorder and was always dependent on his father. He also used to take money from his Dad when he needed it. His wife, who was in court, broke down after District Judge Lee Poh Choo had passed sentence. His father will take over as CEO of StarHub next January following the retirement of incumbent chief Terry Clontz.
posted by LuckySingaporean at 5:23 PM | 45 comments links to this post
Friday, September 18, 2009
<!-- Begin .post -->Singapore Justice is sometimes baffling....
In Oct 2005, I wrote about a case in which a woman was sentenced to 11 years jail for a 1 hour shoplifting spree [Link]. She stole a few bangles and wallets. Yesterday, there was a report about a Briton working in Singapore who stole $13,000 from his managing director (see article below). The same man was also guilty of forging an employment letter by altering his annual salary from US$45K to US$100K. For his crimes, he was fined a total of $23K which is extremely small sum for him because he came from a rich family. 11 yrs for shoplifting and a small fine for stealing $13K.
Here is a case of a kleptomaniac charged for stealing $2335 worth of goods[Link]... despite her mental illness she was given a jail sentence. Another case of a man who stole $2500 worth of scrap metal jailed for several weeks[Link]. Here is one guy who was jailed for 33 months for stealing the handbags of prostitutes. 3 weeks jail for a cabby who kept the belongings left in his cab by absent minded passengers [Link]. A woman who used another persons credit card to pay $4700 worth of goods was jailed for 28 months[Link].
Somehow the sentencing is sometimes inconsistent with what ordinary Singaporeans think of the justice system. We generally accept that our system is strict and if you steal something, you can expect to go to jail.
----------------
Ex-M1 CEO's son fined
By Elena Chong, Courts Correspondent
.
Briton Alexander Montefiore (left) stole a total of $13,000 from its managing director, Mr William Louis Selig, using his DBS debit card. -- ST PHOTO: WONG KWAI CHOW
.
THE son of former MobileOne chief executive was fined a total of $23,000 on Friday for theft from his boss and forgery.Briton Alexander Montefiore, 28, a former sales trader of Cantor Fitzgerald, a financial services company, stole a total of $13,000 from its managing director, Mr William Louis Selig, using his DBS debit card. He had admitted to two charges of theft by withdrawing $2,000 each time from Mr Selig's DBS account on Nov 7 and 26 last year.
He also pleaded guilty to forging an employment letter issued by the company by altering his annual salary from US$45,000 to US$100,000 on Nov 14. Five other theft charges were taken into consideration during his sentencing.Montefiore, now unemployed, is the son of former MobileOne chief Neil Montefiore.The court was told that Mr Selig had entrusted his DBS ATM card and PIN number to Alexander Montefiore for making withdrawals.On Nov 26 when Mr Selig returned to his office and found his DBS ATM card missing from his wallet, he suspected Montefiore of taking it. He later discovered that Montefiore had made six unauthorised withdrawals without his permission. Lawyer Suresh Damodara submitted more than a dozen testimonials and letters attesting to his client's good conduct to show that what he did was out of character.Among them was from Mr Selig, who had forgiven Montefioire, who had also paid back the money before he was charged. Consultant psychiatrist Brian Yeo, said Montefiore was found to have a depressive disorder and was always dependent on his father. He also used to take money from his Dad when he needed it. His wife, who was in court, broke down after District Judge Lee Poh Choo had passed sentence. His father will take over as CEO of StarHub next January following the retirement of incumbent chief Terry Clontz.
posted by LuckySingaporean at 5:23 PM | 45 comments links to this post
