Dec 30, 2010
Five charged over impure liquor
By Elena Chong
FIVE men were charged in court on Thursday with conspiracy to counterfeit the Johnnie Walker trademark.
Ho Thiam Hwa, 34, Ong Bee Hong, 32, Michael Ong Bee Zhuan, 33, Shawn Wan Kee Wee, 35, and Ong Bee Hock, 36, are said to have schemed with others between 2008 and Dec 28 2010, to falsify the trademark of the owner without consent.
They allegedly altered the liquor content of 177 bottles of Johnnie Walker whisky at Jalan Tukang, off Jalan Boon Lay, on Tuesday.
They were among 10 people rounded up by the police following a 19-hour islandwide operation for reproducing and distributing adulterated or impure liquor on Tuesday.
Ho, who faces a second unrelated charge of having 79 Erimin 5 tablets, was offered bail of $50,000.
The others were remanded for investigation.
All five will return to court next Thursday Jan 6.
If convicted, they face a fine of up to $100,000 and/or a jail term of up to five years.
