Bomb hoax man acquitted

May 31, 2010
Bomb hoax man acquitted

<!-- by line --> By Elena Chong, Courts Correspondent
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<!-- end left side bar --> <!-- story content : start --> A MAN who was earlier accused of making a prank call that plastic bombs were about to explode at Marina Bay Sands casino was cleared on Monday. The prosecution withdrew the charge against Mr Fang Xing Chi, 30, who was given a discharge amounting to an acquittal. The unemployed man was hauled to court about three weeks ago for allegedly calling the police and saying that 10 C4 bombs would explode in the casino.

He was also said to have told police they had 12 hours to respond, and that he was from Islamic Jihad Party. The alleged offence took place at a public phone at Block 677 Choa Chu Kang Crescent at about 1.50pm on May 10. No reason was provided in court for the withdrawal of the charge. Anyone found guilty of the offence under Regulation 8(1) of the United Nations (Anti-Terrorism Measures) Regulations can be fined up to $100,000 or jailed for up to five years or both.

MBS hoax: Charges dropped


Jun 1, 2010
MBS hoax: Charges dropped

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Mr Fang Xing Chi, 30, said he had been resting at a void deck in Choa Chu Kang at around 2am on May 10 when he was arrested. -- ST PHOTO: WONG KWAI CHOW

THE man accused of calling the police to say the Marina Bay Sands (MBS) casino was rigged to blow up has had the charge against him withdrawn. Mr Fang Xing Chi, 30, walked out of court a free man yesterday. The prosecution gave no reason in court for dropping the case. However, the police said last night they had charged Mr Fang in the light of the seriousness of the offence.

But after further investigations, they applied for the prosecution to drop the charges as they could not prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt. Mr Fang is aggrieved at having been made to spend a week in a Jurong police station lock-up while investigations were ongoing. Saying he had suffered mentally and physically as a result of being wrongly accused of the prank call, he added: 'In the lock-up, they provided me super lousy food.

Read the full story in Tuesday's edition of The Straits Times.
ELENA CHONG