Foreign talent's contributions to Singapore

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Jul 16, 2025, 02:00pm

Boy, 6, among 4 hurt after Honda driver stopped abruptly at Beach Road, causing accident with Lamborghini​

Huang Xueyan (transliterated), 41, faces two charges. PHOTO: SHIN MIN DAILY NEWS

Teo Yan Ting
TNP
July 16, 2025

A 41-year-old man who abruptly stopped his car in the middle of the road, causing a collision with an oncoming Lamborghini, has been fined $5,000 and disqualified from driving for five years.

The man's wife, as well as the Lamborghini driver and his two passengers, all sustained injuries in the crash.


Huang Xueyan (transliterated), a Chinese national, pleaded guilty on July 14 to one count of driving without due regard for the safety of other road users.

The incident took place at about 1.38pm on July 17, 2022.
A red Lamborghini was travelling along Beach Road towards Stamford Road. As it approached the junction with Java Road, the traffic light was green.


At the same moment, Huang, who was driving a red Honda CRV with his 40-year-old wife, turned right into Java Road but suddenly stopped his vehicle in the middle of the road.

The Lamborghini, unable to stop in time, collided directly with Huang's vehicle. Inside the sports car were a 41-year-old man, his 34-year-old wife and their six-year-old son.

Dashcam footage showed another red car that was in front of the Lamborghini braking in time to avoid the collision.

Medical reports revealed that the driver of the Lamborghini suffered a sprained neck while his wife sustained a dislocated ankle and fractured talus, requiring three days of hospitalisation. Their son suffered abdominal bruising and a minor head injury and was hospitalised for two days.

Huang's wife was also injured in the crash and given six days of medical leave.

Huang's lawyer told the court that his client exited the vehicle immediately to render assistance and has also written an apology letter to the victims. He appealed for leniency in sentencing.

 

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Maximum $7,000 fine for caterer involved in ByteDance food poisoning case​

Yunhaiyao chief executive Lu Zhi Tao appeared in court on behalf of the company.

Jul 17, 2025

SINGAPORE – Catering company Yunhaiyao, which was convicted over its role in the ByteDance mass food poisoning case that affected 171 people, was fined $7,000 on July 17.

Handing down the maximum fine for the case, District Judge Janet Wang said a “staggering” number of people were affected by the episode and that it was fortuitous no fatality resulted.

Noting that the firm had already been in operation in Singapore for six years, she added: “(The company) had sat on its laurels of complacency and maintained a lackadaisical attitude towards the importance of food safety.”


Yunhaiyao’s chief executive Lu Zhi Tao, who appeared in court on behalf of the company, said it has permanently closed its Northpoint City outlet, where the contaminated food was prepared.

Among other remedial measures, Mr Lu said all of the firm’s chefs have since attended a hygiene course again, and a cleaning company was hired to thoroughly clean all premises that are still open for business.

Through a Mandarin interpreter, he added: “The company has set up a safety check team to check on the quality of cooked food and ingredients at the various retail outlets.”

Meanwhile, the court heard that the other caterer that had been suspended by the Singapore Food Agency (SFA) over the case, Pu Tien Services, was eventually found to be uninvolved in the gastroenteritis incident.

It was given the green light by SFA on Aug 10, 2024, to resume operations.

An SFA spokesman told The Straits Times on July 17, 2025, that the agency will not be taking any further action against Pu Tien Services as investigations did not uncover any evidence linking its catered food with the incident.

The two caterers had supplied food to ByteDance, which saw some of its staff hit by gastroenteritis on July 30, 2024.

The victims suffered abdominal pain, diarrhoea and vomiting after consuming catered lunches prepared by Yunhaiyao.

SFA prosecuting officer Mohd Rizal told the court that of the 171 victims, 60 were taken to hospital and 22 of them were eventually hospitalised for between one and three days.

Yunhaiyao had on July 2 pleaded guilty to one charge under the Sale of Food Act and another under the Environmental Public Health (Food Hygiene) Regulations.

Court documents revealed that the wok-fried diced chicken prepared by Yunhaiyao was found to contain over 200,000 colony-forming units (CFUs) per gram of Staphylococcus aureus, a type of pathogen.

This is more than 2,000 times the acceptable level of less than 100 CFUs per gram.


Mr Rizal said pathogens exceeding this amount would make the food unsuitable for consumption and that eating such food may cause symptoms of gastroenteritis.

During the inspection of Yunhaiyao’s food preparation premises at its Northpoint City outlet, SFA officers also discovered more than 10 live cockroaches beneath a folded grey plastic mat behind a rack.

Yunhaiyao’s staff immediately disposed of the infested material, said the prosecutor.


The food company’s suspension was lifted by SFA on Aug 16 after it took the necessary remedial measures.

Judge Wang said its remedial steps were fundamental processes that ought to have been put in place from the outset.

When Judge Wang asked about its plans to compensate victims, Mr Lu said the company was in contact with ByteDance.

“We (ByteDance and Yunhaiyao) have an agreement that we will discuss this further upon the conclusion of this case,” he said through the interpreter.

After the case concluded on July 17, Yunhaiyao apologised in a statement posted on its Facebook page.

It said the incident marked the Northpoint City outlet’s first attempt at offering corporate catering services, but it failed to properly assess the risks involved.

“Our internal review revealed that the meal volume on that day had exceeded the outlet’s maximum single-meal production capacity, which became a major hidden danger,” said the statement, adding that the firm has since permanently stopped its corporate catering services.

It further noted that temperature and time control during storage and delivery was insufficient, leading to microbial overgrowth which caused the incident.

“This incident has been a painful and sobering lesson for us,” said the company in its statement.

“We sincerely urge the public and all stakeholders to continue holding us to high standards and maintaining close oversight.

“We extend our deepest apologies to all affected consumers and the general public.”

 

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Two women jailed for submitting fake university certificates to MOM for employment passes​

Torres Alyssa Riva Fernan (left) and Conol Almira Joy Torres were jailed for four and six weeks respectively on July 17.


Summary

• Two foreign women, Fernan and Torres, submitted forged university certificates to Singapore's MOM to obtain employment passes.
• They worked at CL Enterprise for 15 months before MOM discovered the fraud during a random inspection.
• MOM seeks a strong sentence to deter others from exploiting the work pass system with false statements.

AI generated

Jul 17, 2025

SINGAPORE – Hoping to get employment passes so they could work in Singapore, two foreign women submitted false university certificates to the Ministry of Manpower (MOM).

After they secured the passes, their ruse went undetected for 15 months as they continued working for CL Enterprise, a firm which operates multiple Mr Fix retail outlets carrying items such as kitchenware and appliances.

On July 17, Torres Alyssa Riva Fernan and Conol Almira Joy Torres, both 29-year-old Filipinas, were jailed for four and six weeks respectively.


Fernan pleaded guilty to one charge under the Employment of Foreign Manpower Act.

Torres admitted to one similar charge, with two other charges taken into consideration for sentencing.

Asking the judge to impose a strong sentence, MOM prosecuting officer Teo Sijing said others were deprived of the jobs the two women had secured by deceiving the authorities.

Some time in September 2020, Torres contacted an unidentified Philippine agent known as “Cory” to look for a new job after her previous employment at another Singapore firm ended.

Cory informed Torres about a job as assistant sales manager with a monthly salary of $2,200. Torres was keen and went for the interview.

After the interview, CL Enterprise submitted an application for an employment pass for Torres to work as its assistant sales manager.


As part of the application process, Torres submitted a forged certificate indicating she had a bachelor’s degree in science from Ateneo De Manila University, and signed a declaration form affirming it was true.

She also stated that her monthly salary would be $5,800, although she knew this was false.

She did so on Cory’s instructions as she believed it was necessary for her employment pass application to succeed.

Meanwhile, Fernan heard about Cory through a relative while she was still in the Philippines looking for a job.

Cory required Fernan to pay her $4,500 before processing her job application.

Fernan took a loan to pay Cory.

Fernan then interviewed for the position of assistant operations manager at CL Enterprise and was hired.

In her employment pass application, she similarly submitted a forged bachelor’s degree in science certificate from De La Salle University in Manila, and signed a declaration form affirming that she had this qualification.

Both Torres and Fernan worked at the company from November 2020 to February 2022.

Their offences were discovered when MOM conducted a random inspection of CL Enterprise.

Court documents did not give more details about the inspection.

MOM’s Mr Teo said educational qualifications and salaries are important considerations when determining whether to grant an employment pass application.

Had the authorities known that the details submitted by the women were untrue, the pair would not have been granted the passes, said the prosecutor.

“The sentence sought would impose a strong deterrent message to offenders who seek to exploit the work pass system by making false statements and creating backdoors to facilitate illegal employment,” said Mr Teo.

 

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7 weeks’ jail for male cook who molested drunken man sleeping on bench at shopping mall​

Aung Chue Marn also admitted to an unrelated charge of being in possession of obscene films.

Summary

• Aung Chue Marn molested a drunk, sleeping man in the wee hours of Oct 10, 2024.
• His offence came to light when a security guard viewed CCTV footage showing the Myanmar national molesting the victim.
• Aung Chue Marn's mobile phone was later found to contain 149 video clips of male victims using toilets.

AI generated

Jul 24, 2025

SINGAPORE – A cook employed at a Compass One eatery had just completed work when he spotted and molested a drunken man sleeping on a bench at the Sengkang shopping mall at 2.30am.

After molesting the victim, who was reeking of vomit and alcohol, Aung Chue Marn walked away and then returned three more times to grope the man’s private parts. The victim had remained asleep.

The 26-year-old offender was sentenced to seven weeks’ jail on July 24 after he pleaded guilty to one count of molestation over the incident which took place in October 2024.


Aung Chue Marn, a Myanmar national, also admitted to an unrelated charge of being in possession of obscene films.

The acts of molestation came to light only after the 29-year-old victim woke up and approached a security guard at the mall as his mobile phone was missing.

Court documents did not disclose what happened to the device.

“(The guard) reviewed CCTV footage and found that the accused had touched the victim whilst he was unconscious,” said Deputy Public Prosecutor Karl Tan.

Aung Chue Marn was arrested on Oct 10, 2024, and the authorities examined his mobile phone, which was found to contain 149 video clips of unknown male victims using toilets at the shopping mall.

He had secretly recorded them without the victims’ consent or knowledge, the court heard.

 

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Man scammed 10 victims on Carousell over exercise clothes, misappropriated his hairdresser’s money​

Ong Kok Mun admitted to five offences, including cheating, criminal breach of trust, drug charges and assisting others to retain their benefits from criminal conduct.

Summary

• Ong Kok Mun scammed Carousell users of $920 in 2024 by selling exercise clothes, then misappropriated $1,812 from a hairdresser.
• He illegally facilitated criminal activity, referring bank accounts to a syndicate for scam proceeds, earning $1,000 commission per account.
• Arrested with methamphetamine, Ong admitted to daily drug use. He faces sentencing, with his lawyer citing financial desperation as a motive.

AI generated

Jul 29, 2025

SINGAPORE – A man scammed 10 victims on Carousell into handing him more than $900 in 2024 thinking that they were buying exercise clothes from him.

Malaysian Ong Kok Mun, 39, also misappropriated about $1,800 of his hairdresser’s money that same year.

On July 29, Ong admitted to five offences, including cheating, criminal breach of trust, drug charges and assisting others to retain their benefits from criminal conduct.

Nine other cheating charges and one drug-related offence will be taken into consideration for his sentencing on July 31.

The court heard that Ong, a former delivery man, lost his job in February 2024.

He then purportedly bought exercise garments in bulk from Shopee and resold them on Carousell.

Between Feb 3 and Feb 14 that year, 10 people paid Ong a total of $920 for the clothes. But he cut off contact after getting the money and did not deliver the apparel to them.

One victim paid him $155 for four sports bras and two pairs of shorts from Lululemon, but never received the items.

Ong later admitted that he had used the money to pay for his personal expenses and accommodation at a hotel after his supply of exercise clothes ran out.


He also misappropriated money from people he knew personally, such as a hairdresser of whom he had been a regular customer for many years.

In January 2024, he told the hairdresser – a fellow 39-year-old Malaysian – that he had unused credits in his Shopback account.

The hairdresser asked Ong if he could help him buy some Chinese New Year hampers at a discount using those credits.

Ong then got the hairdresser to transfer $1,812 to his bank account, but did not buy the hampers nor return the money. Court documents did not state what he used the money for.

Ong has not made restitution to any of his victims.

During his unemployment period, a member of Ong’s former gang offered him a job with a criminal syndicate.


He would look for people who were willing to open and relinquish their bank accounts, which would then be used to receive money from scam victims. Ong received about $1,000 in commission for each bank account.

Between March 10 and April 1, 2024, he referred at least 18 bank accounts to the syndicate. Six of these accounts received $422,999 in scam proceeds from 49 victims.

Ong was arrested on April 3, 2024. The police searched his room at the Darlene Hotel in Geylang and found methamphetamine, which he kept for personal consumption.

He admitted that he had started abusing the drug almost every day since June 2023 due to stress.

Court documents showed that Ong was previously admitted to the Drug Rehabilitation Centre and jailed for drug consumption.

Mr Edwin Ho of the Public Defender’s Office, who represented Ong, said his client’s involvement with the criminal syndicate was driven by financial desperation.

“He promises that this will be his last brush with the law,” added Mr Ho.

 

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Provision shop owner who raped 11-year-old gets more than 14 years’ jail​

The judge rejected Ramalingam’s requests to remove his electronic tag and forgo regular check-ins with the police.

Summary

• Ramalingam Selvasekaran, 58, was sentenced to over 14 years in jail for sexually assaulting an 11-year-old girl in his shop in 2021.
• Despite maintaining innocence, Ramalingam was found guilty of rape and outrage of modesty. Justice Xu found the victim's testimony credible.
• Ramalingam's requests to alter his bail conditions were rejected. He also disputed returning $8 taken from his shop to the victim.

Jul 30, 2025

SINGAPORE - A provision shop owner gave a free drink to an 11-year-old girl who visited his store, and when she returned later that day to buy ice cream, he sexually assaulted her twice.

On July 30, Ramalingam Selvasekaran, 58, was sentenced to 14 years, three months and two weeks’ jail by the High Court.

As he cannot be caned, given that he is above the age of 50, the sentence includes additional jail time in lieu of 15 strokes of the cane.


The Indian national was found guilty of all three charges against him on July 7 – one count of rape and two counts of outrage of modesty – after a trial in which he represented himself.

During sentencing arguments on July 30, Ramalingam maintained his innocence and said he would be appealing against his conviction.

After he was sentenced and granted bail of $80,000 pending appeal, he bargained with the judge regarding his bail conditions.

Justice Aidan Xu rejected Ramalingam’s requests to remove his electronic tag and forgo regular check-ins at the Police Cantonment Complex.

Ramalingam also objected to Deputy Public Prosecutor Susanna Yim’s proposal to return to the girl $8 in cash while the court was determining the fate of various trial exhibits.

“The $8 was taken from my shop,” he said. The judge told the prosecution to look into the matter.

The offences took place between about 4.50pm and about 5.05pm on Oct 28, 2021, at his store in Jurong West.

Ramalingam, who was 55 years old at the time of the offences, was accused by the prosecution of leading the girl to the inner confines of his shop to touch her and make her perform oral sex on him.

Following the assaults, the girl sought help from a passer-by, who called the police.

At the end of the trial, which began on Jan 16, Ramalingam argued that the girl’s testimony should not be believed.

He said it was unbelievable that she would have gone to a stranger for help, when she could have gone to someone she knew.

He argued that it was suspicious that there was no police camera footage of her returning to her home after the incident.


He added that he could not have raped the victim as he was suffering from erectile dysfunction, and noted that his DNA was not found on her body.

In convicting Ramalingam on July 7, Justice Xu said the prosecution’s case has been established beyond a reasonable doubt.

The judge found no significant weaknesses in the girl’s recounting of events.

“The fact that she had not run off after the first act of molest, or that she did not resist the assaults, or inform her grandfather, were all to my mind sufficiently explained, particularly given that she was still young and immature,” he said.

Justice Xu pointed out that in Ramalingam’s earlier statements to the police, he stated he had hugged and kissed the victim and that she had performed oral sex on him.

Ramalingam’s later statements denying the commission of the offences were merely an attempt to resile from what he had admitted, the judge said.

Justice Xu said the absence of camera footage did not undermine her evidence.

While there was no dispute that Ramalingam suffered from erectile dysfunction, the judge said the prosecution’s expert witness gave a cogent explanation that oral rape remained possible.

The absence of Ramalingam’s DNA on the victim was at most neutral, and did not undermine the girl’s evidence that she had been sexually assaulted, said the judge.

 

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Jail, fine for man linked to case involving 3 bank accounts that received over $680m in total​

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Myanmar national Nyan Win pleaded guilty to two counts of carrying on a business of providing a payment service in Singapore without a licence.

Summary

• Myanmar national Nyan Win was sentenced to two years' jail and a fine of $109,000 on July 30.
• He had pleaded guilty to two counts of carrying on a business of providing a payment service in Singapore without a licence.
• He committed the offences with Zin Nwe Nyunt, the wife of his childhood friend.

AI generated

Jul 30, 2025

SINGAPORE – A man linked to a case involving three bank accounts that received more than US$531 million (over S$680 million) in total was sentenced to two years’ jail and a fine of $109,000 on July 30.

Myanmar national Nyan Win, 61, who had pleaded guilty to two counts of carrying on a business of providing a payment service in Singapore without a licence, will have to spend an additional six months behind bars should he fail to pay the fine.

His Singaporean accomplice Zin Nwe Nyunt, 58, was sentenced to a year and six months’ jail on July 14.

Court documents stated that Nyan Win, a Singapore permanent resident, and Zin Nwe Nyunt’s husband were childhood friends.

At the time of the offences, Nyan Win was a director at Piyar International, a company that dealt with motor vehicles.

In 2019, another Myanmar national known as Ko Phillip, who operated a commodities trading business, told Nyan Win he was looking for someone to incorporate a company in Singapore to assist in the operations of Ko Phillip’s business.

This company would then create corporate bank accounts that would be used to receive and transfer funds under Ko Phillip’s instructions.

He offered Nyan Win a commission of 0.5 Myanmar kyat (S$0.0003) per US dollar received under this arrangement.

Nyan Win, who was interested in this opportunity, was uncertain whether he could set up a corporate bank account through Piyar International.


Without revealing details, Deputy Public Prosecutor Ryan Lim said this was because banks had previously closed the company’s corporate bank accounts.

Nyan Win approached Zin Nwe Nyunt’s husband and told him about this potential business opportunity with Ko Phillip.

As the husband was holding a full-time job, details of which were not disclosed in court documents, he suggested that his wife could assist in the firm’s incorporation.

Nyan Win’s Singaporean accomplice Zin Nwe Nyunt, 58, was sentenced to a year and six months’ jail on July 14.

ST PHOTO: KELVIN CHNG

It was later agreed between Zin Nwe Nyunt and Nyan Win that the corporate bank accounts would be controlled by Nyan Win. Commissions would then be split between the pair.

Zin Nwe Nyunt incorporated wholesale trading company Unione, and from July 2019 to May 2021, she opened accounts with three different banks through the firm.

She then handed the banking details to Nyan Win, the court heard.


DPP Lim said: “Across 2020 and 2021, Nyan Win would liaise with Phillip to make arrangements for money to be received into Unione’s corporate bank accounts.

“Nyan Win would also receive instructions from Phillip on where to transfer the money once it had been received into the bank accounts. Nyan Win would provide Zin with information regarding the incoming transactions for her to compute the commission amount.”

Between January and July 2020, Nyan Win used one of Unione’s bank accounts to receive more than US$150 million before the money was transferred out.

Court documents do not disclose the source of the money.

Following these transactions, Zin Nwe Nyunt made more than $56,000 in commissions while Nyan Win received more than $34,000.

On July 21, 2020, the bank closed the account because of the large number of suspicious transactions.

The DPP told the court: “Zin, Nyan Win and Unione did not have in force a valid licence from the Monetary Authority of Singapore and were not an exempt payment service provider.”

Following the closure of this account, Zin Nwe Nyunt took instructions from Nyan Win and opened a corporate account with another bank.

Between late July 2020 and April 2021, Nyan Win used this account to receive more than US$250 million before the money was transferred out.

Zin Nwe Nyunt received nearly $76,000 in commissions, while Nyan Win pocketed more than $50,000.

DPP Lim said that between August 2020 and March 2021, a third bank account was used to receive more than US$127 million. Over $119 million was then transferred out.

In August 2021, the police received information that an Australian scam victim had transferred US$1.8 million to several bank accounts maintained by companies in Singapore.

Investigations revealed three of these firms had transferred more than $480,000 to the third bank account.

Investigators then uncovered links between Zin Nwe Nyunt, Unione and Nyan Win. The pair were charged in court in 2023.

On July 30, Nyan Win’s bail was set at $20,000, and he was ordered to surrender himself at the State Courts on Aug 7 to begin serving his sentence.

 

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Man jailed for stealing debit cards, cash aboard Scoot flight to Singapore​

Liu Xitang was sentenced to 10 months’ jail after pleading guilty to one charge of theft.

Summary

• Liu Xitang, a Chinese national, was jailed for 10 months for stealing a passenger's debit cards and cash on a Scoot flight.
• Liu's accomplice, Wang Wei, was allegedly aware of the planned theft and helped conceal the stolen items. They used "biscuit" as code for credit cards.
• The judge highlighted the increasing prevalence of in-flight theft and said a strong message needed to be sent to deter such offences.

AI generated

Jul 30, 2025

SINGAPORE – In yet another case of in-flight theft, a man has been jailed for stealing a passenger’s debit cards and cash onboard a Scoot flight to Singapore.

Both the prosecution and judge noted the increasing prevalence of such offences as Liu Xitang’s case was heard in court on July 30.

The Chinese national, 35, was sentenced to 10 months’ jail after pleading guilty to one charge of theft.


Handing down the sentence, District Judge Eddy Tham said: “A strong message needs to be sent out to deter any like-minded persons from carrying out such offences.”

The court heard that Liu committed the crime on June 2 while onboard Scoot flight TR469 from Kuala Lumpur to Singapore.

His co-accused was fellow Chinese national Wang Wei, 41, who has also been charged. Wang’s case is still before the courts.

Chinese national Wang Wei (left) has been charged after he was arrested at Changi Airport.

PHOTO: ASIAONE

Wang was aware that Liu would commit theft on flights. In particular, Liu would get the details of other passengers’ credits cards and use the stolen information to make transactions.

In their conversations, they used the codeword “biscuit” to refer to credit cards.

The duo entered Malaysia from China on May 31. They planned to leave Malaysia on June 2 via the flight to Singapore, then transit to Hong Kong and part ways.


After boarding the plane, the victim, a 39-year-old Malaysian, placed her bag containing her valuables in the overhead compartment above her seat.

Before take-off, Liu reached into that overhead compartment and stole two debit cards and $169 in cash from the victim’s bag.

He then placed the items into a drawstring bag, which he got as a ScootPlus passenger, and passed the bag to Wang.

Liu also messaged an unknown person on WeChat that he had found a “biscuit” and coordinated with this person about when to use the cards.

Two other passengers witnessed Liu’s actions. A flight stewardess also noticed Liu passing the drawstring bag to Wang before take-off and instructed him to return to his seat.

When the flight landed, the two passengers saw the victim retrieve her bag from the overhead compartment and they realised it belonged to her and not Liu.


They decided to find and inform the victim to check her belongings. After the woman checked inside her bag and saw that cards and cash were missing, she filed a police report.

The police subsequently traced and arrested Liu and Wang at Changi Airport.

Wang returned the cash, and the victim’s debit cards were found in a dustbin near the immigration checkpoint. Liu admitted he had thrown them away.


Deputy Public Prosecutor Gladys Lim said there was evidence to suggest the pair were working with a larger group of criminals, such as the unknown third party Liu spoke to on WeChat.

In mitigation, Liu said through an interpreter that he knew what he did was “a very bad thing”.

“I should not have done it, Your Honour, and I’ve realised my mistake,” said Liu, adding that he hoped to return home soon to settle his father’s funeral matters.

Liu’s case comes amid a spike in cabin theft cases in Asia, which has been blamed on members of organised crime groups who catch short-transit flights to steal small items from passengers.


Between January and May, three people were charged in Singapore for theft onboard an aircraft. Only one person was charged in the same period in 2024.

Assistant Commissioner M. Malathi, commander of the Airport Police Division, told The Straits Times in June that passengers should always keep their valuables on them, remain vigilant and make timely reports for their officers to quickly trace the suspects.

 

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Jail for woman linked to ruse involving iPhones bought with bank card details belonging to others​

Yong Huo Ying, 25, was ordered to spend a year, five months and two weeks behind bars.

Summary

• Yong Huo Ying was sentenced to a year, five months and two weeks' jail on Aug 1.
• Yong and Quek Jian Qing were recruited by a syndicate in November 2024.
• They were arrested on Nov 9 that year.

AI generated

Aug 01, 2025

SINGAPORE - A Malaysian woman who helped to sell iPhones that were bought using bank card details belonging to others was given a jail sentence on Aug 1.

Yong Huo Ying, 25, was ordered to spend a year, five months and two weeks behind bars after she pleaded guilty to multiple charges, including four counts of cheating.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Lewis Tan told the court that unknown individuals in a syndicate had recruited Yong and her accomplice, Quek Jian Qing, 21, who is also a Malaysian, in November 2024.

The pair were told to travel to Singapore and buy multiple iPhones by using the Apple Pay app installed on a mobile phone that would be provided to them.

The app would show a virtual credit or debit card that could be used to make contactless payments.

These card details belonged to other individuals. Court documents did not disclose how the syndicate got hold of such information.

After buying the iPhones, Quek and Yong were tasked to sell the devices in Singapore.

They then had to hand over the proceeds to a syndicate member, known only as “MK”, in Malaysia.

Quek and Yong were each promised up to RM3,000 (S$910) for their roles in the ruse.

Quek was in Malaysia on Nov 7, 2024 when MK handed him a Samsung mobile phone that had Apple Pay pre-installed.

Quek and Yong met up in Malaysia the next day, and they took Quek’s car to Singapore via the Woodlands Checkpoint.

The DPP said: “Quek’s primary role was to purchase the iPhones using the Apple Pay application... while Yong’s primary role was to sell the iPhones purchased by Quek.”

Later that day, Quek bought an iPhone worth $1,899 at an Apple store at Marina Bay Sands and used the app to pay for it.

A 39-year-old Singaporean woman’s credit card details were linked to the platform, and he made the purchase without the victim’s consent.

The woman, identified in court documents as A1, received an SMS alert from her bank about the transaction, and she lodged a police report soon after.

Using the credit card details of other victims in the Apple Pay app, Quek went to other places that same day, including an Apple store in Orchard Road, and bought six more iPhones. The seven iPhones were worth more than $13,000 in total.

Yong later sold two of the iPhones at a shop in Marine Parade, while Quek sold five of them.

Together, they sold the seven iPhones for $1,520 each and conspired to transfer some of the sale proceeds totalling $3,040 to a Singapore bank account provided by the syndicate.

The DPP told the court: “But for the prompt intervention of the local enforcement authorities who arrested Quek and Yong as they attempted to leave Singapore for Malaysia on the same night, (the pair) would have been able to leave Singapore with the remaining proceeds – $7,600 in cash.”

On Aug 1, the prosecutor urged the court to sentence Yong to at least a year, five months and two weeks’ jail.

He said that Yong did not buy or attempt to buy any iPhones.

The syndicate also did not provide her with any devices to make such purchases, the court heard.

Quek was sentenced to three years and 10 days’ jail in May.

 

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Jail for man who forged lawyer’s signature on 35 cheques, duped bank into disbursing over $221,000​

Low Qi Hong was sentenced to a year and six months’ jail after pleading guilty to one count of committing forgery for the purpose of cheating.

Summary

• Low Qi Hong forged his employer's signature on 35 cheques.
• A bank was duped into disbursing more than $221,000 to him.
• Low was arrested in December 2024.

AI generated

Aug 04, 2025

SINGAPORE – A senior conveyancing secretary at a law firm forged his employer’s signature on 35 cheques over nine months and duped a bank into disbursing more than $221,000 to him.

Low Qi Hong, 32, was sentenced to a year and six months’ jail on Aug 4 after pleading guilty to one count of committing forgery for the purpose of cheating.

The Malaysian, who is no longer working for the firm, had committed the offences between March and November 2023.


He was caught more than a year after he suddenly took urgent leave one day and never returned to work.

Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Timothy Ong said that Low started working as a senior conveyancing secretary in June 2022 and reported to the company’s office manager, who was the husband of Low’s employer, a lawyer.

Low’s tasks included preparing payment vouchers and obtaining the lawyer’s approval whenever cheques had to be issued.

He started his crime spree in March 2023 and committed the offences by first obtaining a blank cheque.

At times, he would arrive early at the firm’s Novena premises, enter the manager’s office, and tear out a cheque from the company’s cheque book.

There were also times when Low was tasked to prepare payment vouchers and cheques.


He would then tear out two cheques instead of one and keep one of them for his own use. After that, he would make a photocopy of the blank cheque.

Low would later prepare a fake payment voucher by writing fictitious transaction details on it after selecting a random payee from past ones listed in previous vouchers.

DPP Ong told the court: “The accused would write the same fictitious transaction details which he had written on the payment voucher onto the photocopy of the blank cheque, then create a photocopy of both these documents to file into the company’s records.

“The accused would also write the fictitious payment details in the cheque book.”

Next, Low would write an amount on the original cheque to be paid out either to himself or “cash” as the payee.

Finally, he would forge the lawyer’s signature by tracing it from previous legitimately signed cheques, and encash the cheque at a nearby bank. She was the sole signatory of the firm’s cheques, the court heard.


Shortly before 11am on Aug 21, 2023, he sent her a text message, stating that he had to take urgent leave as his “grandmother had just passed away”.

He became uncontactable soon after that.

Looking through Low’s files, the lawyer found out that he had told some of the firm’s clients that it would be waiving their legal fees, even though no one had given him any instructions to do so.

On Nov 18, 2023, the lawyer and her husband found out that large sums of money had been withdrawn from the company’s bank accounts.

The husband alerted the police the next day and Low was arrested on Dec 26, 2024.

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

Conditional warning for ex-manager at Mendaki accused of trying to obtain laptop as bribe​

Mr Zulkifli Kader was given a two-year conditional warning and granted a discharge not amounting to an acquittal on July 30.

Summary

• Mr Zulkifli Kader has been given a two-year conditional warning.
• He was granted a discharge not amouting to an acquittal on July 30.
• He was accused of trying to obtain a bribe in the form of a laptop worth more than $1,000 from an IT firm employee in 2023.

AI generated

Aug 05, 2025

SINGAPORE – A former digital information technology manager at Yayasan Mendaki accused of trying to obtain a bribe has been given a two-year conditional warning.

Such a warning issued by the authorities comes with certain conditions for a specified period.

Mr Zulkifli Kader, 51, had been accused of attempting to obtain a bribe in the form of a laptop worth more than $1,000 from an employee of a company called A-Speed as a reward for accepting its tender for work linked to the Malay/Muslim self-help group.


The Malaysian was given the conditional warning and granted a discharge not amounting to an acquittal on July 30, meaning he can still be prosecuted for the offence if relevant information or evidence were to emerge later.

Without revealing details behind the move, the Attorney-General’s Chambers told The Straits Times on Aug 5: “After carefully considering the facts and circumstances of the matter, the prosecution directed that a 24-month conditional warning be administered to the accused in lieu of prosecution.”

The prosecution also applied for the discharge and District Judge Kelly Ho granted it during a pre-trial conference.

Mr Zulkifli was working for Mendaki when he purportedly committed the offence over three occasions between April 18 and May 8 in 2023.

He was charged in court in February.