Foreign talent's contributions to Singapore

[True Believer]

French national Vu Han Jean-Luc Kha, the CEO of food and beverage firm, The Prive Group hurled vulgarities and assaulted a teenager in an unprovoked attack in a lift. The incident on 22 Nov 2019, mentally scarred the then 13-year-old boy so badly that he was still scared of taking a lift a year later.

https://www.straitstimes.com/singap...-hurled-vulgarities-at-boy-in-unprovoked-lift

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

Jail for woman who helped sister to obtain bank accounts, ATM cards for use in scams​

Despite suspecting that the accounts would likely be used for illicit activities from the onset, Nguyen Lan Dung agreed to the arrangement.ST PHOTO: KELVIN CHNG
Andrew Wong
Jun 19, 2025

SINGAPORE – Lured by the promise of money, a woman decided to take up her sister’s offer to obtain bank accounts and cards in exchange for payment.

Despite suspecting that the accounts would likely be used for illicit activities from the onset, Nguyen Lan Dung, 24, agreed to the arrangement.

On June 19, the Vietnamese national was sentenced to 10 months’ jail after pleading guilty to three charges under the Computer Misuse Act, and one under the Corruption, Drug Trafficking and Other Serious Crimes (Confiscation of Benefits) Act.


Eleven charges of a similar nature were taken into consideration during the sentencing. Dung was also fined $1,700.

Investigations revealed that after Dung agreed to the arrangement, she reached out to a man to say she knew people who would pay him for control of his bank account. Court documents do not reveal how investigations into Dung and her sister started.

Sometime in March 2024, the man agreed and gave up his bank details and the corresponding physical ATM card.

Dung handed over the card and login details to her sister and her sister’s boyfriend, and was paid $700.

Court documents stated that the man’s bank account and ATM card were later found to be linked to extortion scams, and were used to transact a flow of scam proceeds.

Under the arrangement, Dung would also act as the point of contact for other Vietnamese nationals who were willing to sell their bank accounts.

She would earn between $500 and $700 for each bank account she helped to procure.

Sometime in March 2024, she managed to obtain two different bank accounts from two Vietnamese nationals.

Court documents do not reveal how Dung had managed to contact the two.

Around the same period, Dung, along with her sister and her sister’s boyfriend, arranged to sell 11 bank accounts to unknown persons.

Dung’s sister, Nguyen Huong Giang, remains on the run from Singapore.

 

[True Believer]

I have no sympathy for money mules who transfer illegally acquired money on behalf of scammer. They are essentially middlemen in money laundering schemes, helping criminals disguise the origin of illicit funds from scamming innocent victims, and making it harder for law enforcement to trace the money trail. In order to deter scammers, even their mules have to be imprisoned long enough to send a clear message that the SPF has zero tolerance for such crimes.

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

Court hands down 19 months’ jail to voyeur who preyed on female landlord, toddler​

Andrew Wong
Dec 30, 2024

SINGAPORE - A long-time tenant has been handed a jail sentence after he abused the trust of his landlord by taking voyeuristic videos of the woman and her child when the girl was between three and four years old.

The Malaysian man was found with videos and screenshots that dated back to 2018. The 74 screenshots were from videos recorded of the landlord.

The 40-year-old was on Dec 30 sentenced to 19 months’ jail after pleading guilty to two voyeurism offences and one for insulting the modesty of a woman.


Two other charges were taken into consideration during his sentencing.

The man cannot be named as there is a gag order to protect the identity of the victims.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Lynda Lee said the man had been renting a bedroom in the woman’s Housing Board flat for 10 years when he was caught in the act.

His landlord lived there with her husband and their daughter.

The court heard that on the morning of April 8, the man was in the flat with the woman, 45, when he heard the sound of running water.

When he realised his landlord was in the shower, he sneaked into her room and held his phone beneath the toilet door with the video camera facing upwards.


DPP Lee said the man was so engrossed in the act that he failed to realise the victim was about to walk out.

She found him squatting on the floor with his phone pointed at her.

The man, who was employed as an aerospace machine operator in Singapore, ran back into his bedroom as the woman screamed.

She called her husband – who was at work at the time – and he immediately alerted the police.

Investigations revealed that the man had retained 24 videos and 74 screenshots in 14 devices – four mobile phones, six thumb drives, three memory cards and one memory card reader.

He admitted to taking voyeuristic videos of the woman’s daughter.

The man was found with multiple videos of the young child in various states of undress. He said he pleasured himself to the videos of both the woman and her daughter.

DPP Lee read out in court parts of the victim’s statement, which said the woman is still suffering from the effects of the incident. She is often worried that there is someone outside the toilet, even when she is alone.

The victim said her daughter remains unaware of the incidents.

The man could have been jailed for up to two years, fined and caned for intentionally observing someone doing an intimate or private act without his or her consent.

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

Jail for pair linked to bogus scheme with more than 2,000 S’pore investors, over $13.7m in losses​

Leong Koon Wah (left) and Ng Kuan Chuan at the State Courts in March 2022. They were jailed on Jan 3 over a bogus investment scheme.ST PHOTOS: KELVIN CHNG

Shaffiq Alkhatib
Jan 03, 2025

SINGAPORE - He was the managing director of a firm called Singliworld which lured more than 2,000 investors in Singapore into an “investment scheme” that promised trading returns as high as 13 per cent per month.

But the scheme turned out to be fraudulent and there was a loss of over US$10 million (S$13.7 million) after more than US$21 million was collected from the investors, which also included thousands from other countries.

On Jan 3, Leong Koon Wah, 51, who was Singliworld’s managing director at the time of the offences, was sentenced to 10 years and six months in jail, and ordered to pay a penalty of $3,658,600.

He will spend an additional 18 months behind bars if he fails to fork out the amount.

Leong was also a director at three other firms – Singliworld HK, Triumph Global (Asia), which was incorporated in Hong Kong, and Union Markets, a New Zealand-incorporated company.

As at May 2015, Leong had earned approximately US$3.1 million through multi-level marketing (MLM) despite having invested only a total of US$1,000 himself.

He also held several accounts linked to the scheme in his wife’s name even though she had not made any investments. He earned around US$3.4 million through her accounts.

Ng Kuan Chuan, 38, who was also a director at Triumph Global and Singliworld HK, was sentenced to seven years and six months’ jail after earning some US$300,000.

Ng, who was involved in the management of Union Markets, was also ordered to pay a fine of $300,000 and will spend another six months behind bars in default.

After an 88-day trial, District Judge Soh Tze Bian convicted the two Malaysian men of carrying on Singliworld’s business between March 2014 and May 2015, thereby inducing customers to invest in Singliforex – a scheme where their money would purportedly be used to trade in foreign exchange.

These customers were led to believe that professional traders would conduct the trading on their behalf through “foreign exchange brokerages” – Triumph Global and Union Markets.

However, no such trading had taken place and the scheme was unsustainable.

Judge Soh also convicted the pair of offences involving Triumph Global and Union Markets. The men had carried on the business of foreign exchange trading linked to these two firms even though the companies did not have the necessary licences.

Leong had also pleaded guilty to two other charges involving Singliworld. According to court documents, it had promoted a pyramid-selling scheme between February 2014 and May 2015.

Singliworld had also carried on the business of foreign exchange trading even though it was not licensed to do so.

In his oral grounds of decision in December 2024, Judge Soh said that the Singliforex scheme exhibited multiple hallmarks of fraudulent activity, each of which underscored its deceptive and unsustainable nature with fraudulent features.

He added: “In my view, the scheme preyed on investors’ trust through deliberate misrepresentations, manipulation of outcomes, and unsustainable financial practices.

“By combining the illusion of professional trading, guaranteed profits, and MLM incentives, Leong and Ng as the perpetrators maintained a deceptive front while systematically misappropriating funds, ensuring the eventual collapse of the scheme.”

In earlier proceedings, the prosecution told the court that Leong incorporated Singliworld in December 2012 and was its “directing mind”. He later employed administrating staff from March to May 2015.

Singliword’s only business was promoting to members of the public the Singliforex scheme.

Leong and Singliworld promised prospective investors that a team of “professional traders” would purportedly trade in foreign exchange on behalf of the investors.

Ng was one of the people who had carried out the “trading” even though he was neither qualified nor licensed to do so.

From around March 20, 2014, to April 30, 2015, those who wished to participate in the Singliforex scheme had to open and maintain a forex trading brokerage account with Triumph Global.

From around May 7, 2015, they had to open and maintain such an account with Union Markets.

Deputy public prosecutors Nicholas Tan, Michelle Tay and Suriya Prakash stated in court documents that Singliforex investors were not allowed to have the “trading” done via a forex brokerage of their choice.

Investors were also locked out of their accounts at Triumph Global and Union Markets, and could not do any trading on their own.

At the time of the offences, Singliworld did not hold a capital markets services licence issued by the Monetary Authority of Singapore for leveraged foreign exchange trading.

Despite this, Singliworld held itself out as carrying on such a business between March 2014 and May 2015.

Leong had also devised a set of financial incentives so that Singliforex would be an MLM scheme, with incentives designed to encourage investors to refer and recruit others to participate in the scheme.

The prosecution said that Leong structured the Singliforex scheme to be pyramidal in nature, and placed himself at the apex of the pyramid.

On Jan 3, Leong and Ng were each offered bail of $300,000. Leong is expected to begin serving his sentence on Jan 31, while Ng intends to appeal against his conviction and sentence.

 

[True Believer]

There must be zero tolerance for conmen like Leong Koon Wah and Ng Kuan Chuan, who destroy the lives of honest working people by stealing their life savings. Their jail sentences appear to be far too lenient.

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

$2k fine for man who urinated on escalator handrail at Outram Park MRT station​

On Jan 14, Li Guorui, 41, pleaded guilty to one charge of being a public nuisance.ST PHOTO: KELVIN CHNG

Nadine Chua
Jan 14, 2025

SINGAPORE - A man was fined $2,000 for urinating on an escalator handrail at Outram Park MRT station, an act that was captured on video and widely shared on social media.

On Jan 14, Chinese national Li Guorui, 41, pleaded guilty to one charge of being a public nuisance.

The prosecution said Li’s case was among three public urination cases at MRT stations in the past week. One of them took place at Tanah Merah MRT station, which the police are investigating.


The other case occurred at Potong Pasir MRT station, but no details on this case were mentioned in court.

As for the Outram Park case, Deputy Public Prosecutor Jeremy Bin said Li had arrived in Singapore on Jan 2 for a business trip.

On Jan 10, from 7pm to 9pm, Li attended a business dinner at Westgate, where he had a large amount of beer and became heavily intoxicated.

At around 10pm, when he was exiting Outram Park MRT station to return to his hotel in Upper Cross Street, he unzipped his pants and urinated on the handrail of a downward-moving escalator.

He then exited the station and returned to his hotel.

DPP Bin said videos of the act were widely circulated online, with one such video garnering over 2,000 “reactions” on social media.

Li was arrested by the police on Jan 12 and charged in court the next day.

Seeking a fine of between $1,500 and $2,000, the prosecutor said: “It goes without saying that the accused’s actions here were completely unacceptable and rather disconcerting, and his sentence should reflect that.”

He said Li urinated in an area with high footfall, on the only part of the escalator that members of the public would touch, adding: “His act extends beyond just causing annoyance, and concerns issues of sanitation and disease-spreading.”

DPP Bin said that while a cleaner was sent to the scene shortly after Li’s act, staff at the station were unaware that Li had urinated on the handrail, and only the floor of the escalator landing was cleaned at the time.

The prosecutor also noted that since there were two other public urination cases in the last week, a message should be sent by the court to deter such behaviour.

In mitigation, Li, who was unrepresented, said he had committed the offence on the spur of the moment and has cooperated with the authorities during investigations.

Before meting out the sentence, District Judge Paul Chan agreed with the prosecution that Li’s act did not just cause annoyance to the public, but also brought about issues of health and sanitation.

The judge said: “SMRT is now required to service the escalator, on top of its usual service routines. This has cost implications. What the accused has done has an impact on the reputation of SMRT and its ability to provide a safe and clean transportation environment.”

Those found guilty of public nuisance can be fined up to $2,000.

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

18 years’ jail for man who sexually assaulted daughter, blaming her ‘sidelong glances’​

The sentence included a one-year term in lieu of 24 strokes of the cane. PHOTO: ST FILE

Selina Lum
Jan 16, 2025

SINGAPORE – A technician sexually assaulted his daughter in her bedroom when she was between 12 and 14 while his wife was overseas or working the night shift.

On Jan 16, the 52-year-old man was sentenced to 18 years’ jail after he pleaded guilty in the High Court to two counts of aggravated sexual assault by penetration. The sentence included a one-year term in lieu of 24 strokes of the cane.

The man, a Singapore permanent resident, cannot be caned as he is above the age of 50.

Five other charges for various sexual offences were taken into consideration during sentencing.

Deputy Public Prosecutor David Koh said in sentencing arguments that the man had tried to blame the victim for what he had done.

The prosecutor said that during a psychiatric assessment following his arrest, the man claimed that the girl had induced him to commit the offences by looking at him “in a sexual mode”.

On hearing this, the man, who did not have a lawyer, immediately shouted in court that this was the truth.

The prosecutor also highlighted the man’s written mitigation plea, in which he stated that the victim’s “sidelong glances” made him behave in a wrong manner.

Several times during the hearing, the man sobbed and claimed that he was considering the “well-being” of his daughter by agreeing to the facts read out by the prosecutor.

The man and the girl’s mother, who are now divorced, also have two sons.

DPP Koh told the court that between July 31 and Aug 9 in 2019, the girl’s mother was not at home as she was visiting relatives in India.

After the girl returned home from school one day during that period, the man went to her bedroom and sat beside her on the floor.

As she played games on her mobile phone, the man rubbed her thigh, put his hand under her shorts, and sexually violated her.

The victim told him to stop, grabbed him by the wrist and pulled his hand away.

The man carried out the same intrusive act on her on two more occasions, including once in October 2019 after she had taken her last paper in the Primary School Leaving Examination.

From 2020, the victim’s mother began to work night shifts as a security guard. When her mother was at work, the victim slept alone in the room they shared.

The brothers shared another bedroom, while the man slept on a sofa in the living room. Two other bedrooms were rented out to tenants.

On at least two occasions in 2020 and early 2021, the man entered the victim’s room late at night to touch her inappropriately after everyone else had gone to bed.

The girl would lock the door to her room at night, but the man had a key.

In 2021, the man sent her a pornographic video over WhatsApp.

The prosecutor said that as a cumulative result of all these incidents, the victim felt very upset and stressed, and would stay alert at night trying to guard against her father.

The victim became aware that what her father was doing to her was wrong after she attended sex education in secondary school.

However, at that point, she was afraid that he might scold or hit her if she reported the matter, said the prosecutor.

The victim eventually reported the abuse after one final incident.

On July 26, 2021, the man began to undo the fastener on his pants after molesting her.

Fearing that he would rape her, the girl fled the room.

The prosecutor said: “The victim was extremely upset about this incident, as well as the previous incidents, and felt that she could not take it any more.”

On July 27, 2021, the victim told her form teacher about the incidents. Officers from the Ministry of Social and Family Development were informed, and a police report was made.

The man was arrested on the same day.

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

 

[True Believer]

18 years’ jail for man who sexually assaulted daughter, blaming her ‘sidelong glances’​

DPP Koh told the court that between July 31 and Aug 9 in 2019, the girl’s mother was not at home as she was visiting relatives in India.

Why does the PAP invite CECAs of such poor quality to become SG PRs and ultimately, a new citizen? Are we so desperate to grow our population? What's wrong with returning to a SG core of 3 million people with at most, 500K genuine foreign talents? Prices of just about everything - mainly homes and cars - will come down fast.

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

Fines for 4 men from Dutch dredging boat linked to worst oil spill in S’pore in a decade​

(Clockwise from top left) Merijn Heidema, Eric Peijpers, Richard Ouwehand and Martin Hans Sinke were each handed fines on April 2.

Apr 02, 2025

SINGAPORE - Four Dutchmen, who were crew members on the Netherlands-flagged dredger Vox Maxima when it struck another vessel and caused the worst oil spill in Singapore in a decade, were handed fines on April 2.

Merijn Heidema, 26, who was a third engineer at the time of the incident in June 2024, and Eric Peijpers, 56, then a second engineer, were each fined $40,000.

Richard Ouwehand, 49, who was Vox Maxima’s master, and Martin Hans Sinke, 48, then the vessel’s chief officer and in charge of its navigational watch, were each fined $20,000.

On March 12, each man pleaded guilty to one charge under the Merchant Shipping Act 1995 and admitted to failing to discharge his duties properly.

Vox Maxima struck the stationary Singapore-flagged Marine Honour at Pasir Panjang Terminal in June 2024, causing around 400 tonnes of fuel to leak into the sea.

The oil spill spread to the coastlines of East Coast Park, Labrador Nature Reserve and Sentosa, and even to the Johor coastline in Kota Tinggi.

In earlier proceedings, Deputy Public Prosecutor Regina Lim told the court that clean-up operations took more than two months.

Marine Honour was still undergoing repairs as at March 12, and the cost of repairs is estimated to exceed $6.6 million.

On the morning of June 14, 2024, the circuit breaker of the outgoing feeder of the high-voltage switchboards to the step-down transformer on the starboard side of the Vox Maxima was opened to allow for maintenance works.

Starboard refers to the right side of a vessel when facing its front, while port refers to the left.

The circuit breaker controlled the flow of electrical power from the main generator to the step-down transformer on the starboard side. When it was in an open state, no electrical power would be supplied to equipment connected to the low-voltage switchboards.

The circuit breaker remained open after the maintenance works were completed that day.

Prior to taking over the engineering watch at noon, Peijpers and Heidema did not check the status of the circuit breakers, which would affect the distribution of electrical power on the vessel.

By law, they are required to be satisfied with items, including the electrical power distribution system, before taking over the engineering watch.

During their watch, Peijpers and Heidema prepared the Vox Maxima for its departure from the Western Anchorage to ST Engineering Marine’s Tuas shipyard.


Just after noon, the two men were notified by several other officers that the main engines had to be ready for the voyage by 1.30pm.

The pair stopped the auxiliary generator and started the main generators, which comprised the starboard generator and a second main generator on the port side.

As the circuit breaker on the starboard side was open, no electrical power from the starboard generator could be supplied to equipment connected to the low-voltage switchboards, and they were thus powered by the port generator.

While on the way to the Tuas shipyard, two of Vox Maxima’s hydraulic pumps that drew power from the low-voltage switchboards were started as part of the planned operations, increasing the load at a circuit breaker on the port side.

This circuit breaker tripped as it was overloaded when the second hydraulic pump was started, leading to a loss of electrical power for all low-voltage equipment, including rudders and controllable pitch propellers. This led to the loss of steering and propulsion control for the Vox Maxima.

Upon the loss of steering control, both Ouwehand and Sinke were responsible for, among other things, engaging emergency steering, but they failed to do so.

During this time, the Vox Maxima approached a ship, the Super Hero, which managed to alter its course and speed to avoid a collision.

The Super Hero had 21 crew members on board at the time.

A minute later, the Vox Maxima hit the starboard side of the Marine Honour, which suffered damage to at least six water ballast tanks, 10 cargo oil tanks and the slop port tank as a result.

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

Jail for man who used investors’ funds to pay debts, lied that money had been stolen​

Madarssamarecar Mohamed Bagurudeen, 48, was handed a jail term of four years and 11 months.

Apr 15, 2025

SINGAPORE - A man who used money he had received from investors to pay off his own debts has been sentenced to jail.

On April 15, Madarssamarecar Mohamed Bagurudeen, 48, was handed a jail term of four years and 11 months.

The Singapore permanent resident had earlier pleaded guilty to five counts of criminal breach of trust.


In 2017, he had promoted a scheme that promised investors a monthly interest of up to 3 per cent for convertible loans they provided to his company for a predetermined period.

In total, Madarssamarecar received $865,000 from four investors into his firm, The Gold Souk Investment Holding. Business records show the firm, which has been struck off, was an investment holding company.

He ran into trouble in 2018 when his money-changing businesses started to lose money, and decided to use the investors’ funds to pay what he owed in the form of investment returns or refunds to other clients.

He also used money from an acquaintance, referred to in court as Farook, to pay his debtors without Farook’s knowledge.

The two men had an arrangement where Farook would pay a commission to Madarssamarecar for helping him obtain cashier’s orders for the purchase of property and vehicles.

Between October 2018 and January 2019, Madarssamarecar helped to obtain cashier’s orders on more than 10 occasions, pocketing commissions of at least $8,000.


In January 2019, Madarssamarecar closed the bank account he had been using to receive money from Farook. He then asked another man, Sivakumar Madivanan, 40, to help receive the money instead.

That same month, Farook deposited $2.7 million into Sivakumar’s account for a property purchase and asked Madarssamarecar to obtain a cashier’s order for a deposit on the purchase.

The next day, Farook attempted to deposit another $2.9 million into Sivakumar’s account, but the bank denied the transaction. It was not explained in court why the transaction failed to go through.

Farook then decided to hand over the $2.9 million to Madarssamarecar in cash, so that he could deposit the money himself and apply for the necessary cashier’s order.

The two met at a carpark in People’s Park Centre, where Farook handed over the money and various documents related to the purchase of property.

Around this time, Madarssamarecar had other money changers pressing him for repayment of currencies that his money changing companies had purchased from them.


So he instructed Sivakumar to pay the creditors with $500,000 taken from the $2.9 million received.

On the same day, Madarssamarecar told Farook that he could not give him the cashier’s order for the initial $2.7 million, as the bank had questioned him.

Sceptical, Farook asked for the $2.9 million cash to be returned to him, but Madarssamarecar was able to return only $2.4 million.

Madarssamarecar claimed the remaining $500,000 had been deposited, and that he could not contact the bank account holder, leading Farook to contact the police.

The court heard that Madarssamarecar defaulted on his payments to the investors of The Gold Souk Investment Holding when investigations into Farook’s complaint began in January 2019.

To buy time, he lied to the investors that their money had been stolen in Malaysia, after he had used the funds to purchase $10 million in Malaysian ringgit.

Court documents did not provide details on the status of the $2.7 million that Madarssamarecar had received from Farook.

Sivakumar faces two charges for criminal breach of trust for his alleged role in the incident. His case is still before the courts.

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

Foreigner behind MRT station molestation caught 7 years later when he re-entered S’pore​

May 07, 2025

SINGAPORE – Seven years ago, a foreigner molested a woman at Serangoon MRT station and left Singapore without being apprehended.

But Zhang Yang, 34, was arrested upon re-entering the country in March.

The Chinese national was sentenced to three weeks’ jail on May 7 after he admitted to one count of outrage of modesty. A second similar charge was taken into consideration for sentencing.

The offence happened on Aug 22, 2018. Zhang, a construction worker at the time, did not know the 21-year-old victim.

She was at Serangoon MRT station, intending to travel to Little India. As she walked towards one end of the platform while waiting for the train, Zhang walked towards her and brushed his arm against her shorts.

After they crossed paths, he turned and walked back towards her. She immediately moved to an area where more people were standing as she was afraid he would touch her again.

But Zhang followed closely behind her and molested her a second time.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Jordy Kay said: “This occurred less than a minute after the first incident. The victim was shocked and felt scared.”

CCTV footage played in court showed Zhang pacing back and forth on the MRT station platform in close proximity to the victim.

He stared at the victim, who periodically turned to monitor his location out of concern about her safety, added DPP Kay.

When they boarded the train, she sat down while he stood in front of her before taking a seat a few spaces to her left.

During the journey, he repeatedly turned to look at her.

Feeling threatened, she wrote a note on her mobile phone and showed it to a male passenger sitting beside her. It stated: “Can you help me? The man in the striped shirt sitting on the reserved seat on your left touched me twice and I think he’s following me.”

The passenger asked her which stop she was alighting at and said he would stay beside her.

Zhang alighted two to three stops after the Serangoon station, while she remained on the train.

She later told her boyfriend and her younger sister about what happened. She made a police report that night.

Zhang left Singapore shortly after the incident as his work permit had expired. Court documents did not state how the police identified him, but noted that a police gazette was issued for his arrest.

When he returned to Singapore on March 26, 2025, he was arrested at Changi Airport. Court documents did not state his reason for re-entering the country.

DPP Kay said: “During investigations, despite being shown the footage of the above incidents, the accused claimed that he did not recall molesting the victim.”

This was markedly different from his demeanour in court on May 7, as he said in mitigation via a Mandarin interpreter that he was “very remorseful”.

He added that he committed the crime while he was drunk, but said he knew this did not justify his actions.

“This is the first time in my whole life that I’m spending time in jail,” said Zhang, who pleaded for leniency as he has to take care of his aged parents and children.

DPP Kay said there was no evidence of Zhang’s alcohol consumption, and added: “In any event, intoxication would be an aggravating, not mitigating, factor.”

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

Tenant who molested landlord’s daughter in her bedroom gets 3½ years’ jail, caning​

Loh Wai Seng, a 36-year-old permanent resident from Malaysia, was sentenced by the High Court on May 20.

May 20, 2025

SINGAPORE – A man who lived in a rented room with his wife molested his landlord’s daughter in her own bedroom when she was 12 to 13 years old.

Loh Wai Seng, a 36-year-old permanent resident from Malaysia, was sentenced by the High Court to 3½ years’ jail and seven strokes of the cane on May 20.

He pleaded guilty to a charge of committing an indecent act with a child and two charges of aggravated outrage of modesty.


A fourth charge involving the possession of 2,956 obscene films was considered in sentencing.

In sentencing, Justice Audrey Lim noted that Loh had violated the victim within the sanctity of her home and exploited his position as a long-term tenant of her family.

Deputy Public Prosecutor James Chew told the court that the victim lived in a four-bedroom unit with her parents and older brother, as well as two other couples who were tenants.

Loh, who worked as a chef, had lived in one of the bedrooms with his wife since 2011.

Between December 2018 and September 2019, he touched the girl inappropriately in her room on at least four occasions.

He would quietly enter her room after he believed that everyone in the household had gone to bed.

The first incident took place after the girl woke up from a nightmare and started talking to herself.

Loh, who was in the living room, went into her room, sat down on the bed and spoke to her.

He then asked her if he could touch her. The girl agreed, as she did not understand what he meant.

After Loh touched her under her clothes, she moved away from him and pushed herself to the corner of the bed next to the wall.

When he touched her again, she started kicking her legs against the bed frame.

He left the room after telling her to keep what had happened a secret.

The girl did not tell her parents about the incidents, as she did not know how they would react.

On Sept 24, 2019, feeling distressed by Loh’s actions, and realising that he would continue if she did not talk to someone, she decided to tell her teacher about it.

The matter was escalated to the school management and the victim’s parents were informed.

A police report was lodged on Oct 18, 2019.

As a result of the incidents, the victim had a fear of sleeping facing the door, felt guilty over not disclosing the matter earlier, and avoided expressing physical affection, as it triggered memories of the incidents.

Loh’s lawyer, Mr Mahadevan Lukshumayeh, said his client was “remorseful, regretful and ashamed” of his conduct.

The lawyer said his client had become addicted to pornography and was watching such videos before he entered the victim’s room.

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

Jail for trio who duped landlord into believing bungalow would be used as private residence​

(From left) Wu Pengfei, Su Zhentan and Su Wenhui were jailed on May 26.

May 26, 2025

SINGAPORE – Five people worked together to dupe the landlord of a good class bungalow into believing that one of them would be the rightful person leasing the property and that he would not use it for any purpose other than as a private residence.

However, Singaporean Wu Pengfei, 35, had merely provided his name for the tenancy of the house in Victoria Park Road near Coronation Road.

Court documents stated that another one of the five people, Cambodian national Wu Guojing, 33, was, in fact, the overall operator, and had used the property as a “clubhouse” for his friends and business associates.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Cheah Wenjie said that Wu Guojing – a director at two firms, SG Eastcode and Windgo Trade – was also the one who had provided the money to operate the clubhouse, and financed the property’s monthly rental of $58,000.

He is still at large after leaving Singapore in July 2023.

On May 26, Wu Pengfei and another member of the group, Chinese national Su Zhentan, 40, were each sentenced to two months’ jail. Each man pleaded guilty to a cheating charge.

A fourth man, Cambodian national Su Wenhui, 44, was sentenced to four months’ jail after he pleaded guilty to one count each of cheating and attempting to move more than $22,000 in cash out of Singapore.

The prescribed limit is $20,000, or its equivalent in foreign currencies.

The case involving the fifth person, Koh Hui Ming, 36, who is a Singapore permanent resident, is pending.


The Malaysian is the sole woman allegedly linked to this case, and was a property agent at the time of the offences.

According to court documents, Su Wenhui was Wu Guojing’s trusted associate and the clubhouse’s manager.

Su Zhentan, who worked as a chef, was a treasurer there. Wu Pengfei was a driver at the clubhouse, the court heard.

DPP Cheah said that around February 2023, Wu Guojing and Su Wenhui engaged Koh’s services as they wanted to rent a property that could be used as a clubhouse.

The two Cambodian nationals then rented a property in Garlick Avenue, near Bukit Timah Road, at $125,000 a month for such a purpose.

DPP Cheah added that, in February 2024, Wu Guojing, whose source of wealth is “unexplained”, decided to move the clubhouse operations to another property with a cheaper monthly rent.


He then told Su Wenhui to make arrangements with Koh to locate a new place.

She later saw a rental listing for the Victoria Park Road house and arranged a viewing, which Su Wenhui and Wu Pengfei attended.

Su Wenhui decided to rent the property and asked Koh to rent it under Wu Pengfei’s name.

Su Wenhui knew Wu Pengfei, as a Singaporean, would be less likely to arouse suspicions, said the DPP.

Wu Pengfei, who earned $5,500 a month as a driver and could not afford the monthly rental free of $58,000, agreed to provide his name as the property’s registered tenant.

The prosecution said that Koh later lied to a property agent named Kelvin Goh, claiming that Wu Pengfei was a business owner who wanted to stay at the Victoria Park Road house.

Mr Goh then told the landlord, who was cheated soon after.

The court heard that Koh was aware that Wu Pengfei could not afford the property’s monthly rental fee.

Wu Pengfei received the tenancy agreement around March 14, 2024, and signed it.

The DPP said Koh made a profit of $26,000 in commission for brokering the rental agreement, and she later used the money to pay for the deposit of a condominium unit in Pasir Ris.

Wu Guojing’s friends and business associates later used the Victoria Park Road property as a clubhouse.

They could stay at the house, gamble and make use of its facilities, including a swimming pool and a pool table.

There were also two masseurs who provided services there.

Su Zhentan was in charge of keeping track of the expenditures incurred in relation to the clubhouse’s operations and rental.

Court documents did not disclose how the offences came to light, but the police raided the property at around 1.20am on May 18, 2024.

Nine people, including Koh, Wu Pengfei, Su Zhentan and Su Wenhui, were discovered at the scene. The

four named were later charged in court in 2025.


In an unrelated case, Su Wenhui was at Changi Airport on Aug 17, 2023, about to fly to the Philippines when the police stopped him for checks.

Cash totalling more than $22,000 in different currencies was later found in his possession.

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

Woman jailed for offering $50 bribe to ICA officer after being caught with contraband cigarettes​

Chinese national Sun Song was sentenced to four weeks’ jail after she pleaded guilty to offering the bribe.

May 30, 2025

SINGAPORE – A Singapore-based foreign student, who was caught with contraband cigarettes at the Woodlands Checkpoint, tried to get off the hook by offering a bribe of least $50 to an Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) officer.

The officer did not take the money that Chinese national Sun Song had offered her, and the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) was alerted soon after.

On May 30, the 29-year-old offender was sentenced to four weeks’ jail after she pleaded guilty to offering the bribe.

She has since paid a composition of $650 for failing to declare the cigarettes that have been disposed of.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Tan Pei Wei said Sun had travelled from Malaysia and was at the Woodlands Checkpoint in a private-hire vehicle when two ICA officers stopped it for a routine search at around 6.40pm on Nov 23, 2024.

Sun was sitting on the rear passenger seat when one of the officers, Sergeant (2) Nurliana Mohamad Sufian spotted a white plastic bag containing cigarettes beside her.

Sun did not give a verbal answer when asked if she had anything to declare, and the ICA officers told the driver to drive to the side of the road.

As he did so, Sun slipped the white plastic bag into the car boot through the passenger seats.

Sgt Nurliana asked for the car boot to be opened, and she found that the plastic bag contained 10 packs of cigarettes.

The driver denied owning these items when questioned, the court heard.

Sgt Nurliana then turned her attention to Sun, who pleaded by saying “please” and “help me” in English while running her palms together.

DPP Tan said: “The accused then said ‘I give you money’, took out not less than $50 in cash from her purse and proffered it to Sgt Nurliana. The accused did this as she was worried about being arrested and wanted Sgt Nurliana to let her off.

“The driver immediately grabbed the accused’s arm upon seeing this. Sgt Nurliana also warned the accused that she had a body-worn camera (and) the accused did not persist.”

ICA reported the matter to the police at around 7pm that day and the case was later referred to the CPIB, which arrested Sun on Dec 10, 2024.

Pleading for leniency, defence lawyer Foo Ho Chew told the court that his client is remorseful, adding: “While the form of gratification offered is of low value, a mere $50 in cash, she now realises the significance and severity of her actions.”


Mr Foo also said that Sun had cooperated with the authorities during their investigation into the case.