Two men get jail and caning for house robbery

[fallon]

Apr 19, 2011

Two men get jail and caning for house robbery

By Elena Chong

TWO men were jailed on Tuesday for robbery.

Tay Chuan Bock, 48, a contractor, was given 31/2 years' jail and six strokes of the cane for robbing and restraining a housewife with five others at her house off Bukit Batok Road on Sept 22, 2010.

He and his accomplices jointly robbed the 42-year-old woman of $112,792 after tying her up, her eight-year-old daughter and Filipino maid.

Four of the men had entered the house by posing as National Environment Agency officers to check for mosquito breeding.

Donning overalls and surgical masks, they even brought along a fogging equipment operated by Low Soon Kwee, 38.

Low, unemployed, was also in court to plead guilty to a charge of robbing Mr Ang Yeow Chong, 42 - who is self-employed - of $1,000 and a bunch of keys at a carpark of Block 114 Teck Whye Lane in Aug 29, 2010.

He was sentenced to four years and 12 strokes of the cane. Two other charges of robbery - including the Sept 22 incident - were taken into consideration.

He has previous convictions for unrelated offences. The cases against two others, Ong Bee Han, 33, and Khoo Wei Chyi, 37, both unemployed, are pending. Two others are at large.

 

[Zuo Ci]

Two men who posed as NEA officers to commit robbery jailed
By Shaffiq Alkhatib | Posted: 19 April 2011 2021 hrs

SINGAPORE: Two men who pretended to be officers from the National Environment Agency (NEA) before entering a house to rob its occupants, were jailed on Tuesday.

One of them, 49-year-old contractor Tay Chuan Bock, will spend three-and-a-half years behind bars and receive six strokes of the cane. His accomplice, 38-year-old Low Soon Kwee, will be jailed for four years and was given 12 strokes of the cane.

The pair and four others entered a house at Pavilion Rise in Bukit Batok at around 1pm on September 22 last year.

They made off with cash and valuables worth S$112,791.94 in all.

According to court documents, two of the men, 33-year-old Ong Bee Han and 36-year-old Khoo Wei Chyi, both unemployed, had concealed their faces behind surgical masks and turned up at the house in white long coats.

They told the homeowner, 42-year-old housewife Ong Siew Hong, that they wanted to check the premises for signs of mosquito breeding.

Assistant Public Prosecutor Charlene Yang said that Madam Ong allowed the men in and they were later joined by Tay and 41-year-old Ong Chye Kwee. The men put their plan into action as soon as they found that the coast was clear.

Court documents stated that Khoo pointed a knife at Madam Ong before tying her up with cable ties and duct tape. The men also did likewise to her eight-year-old daughter and 34-year-old maid, Cleoferly Ucab Tangog.

While this was taking place, Low stayed outside the house, dressed in blue coveralls and fogged the neighbourhood.

The court heard that the men later made off with their loot in a getaway car that was parked nearby.

Besides this, Low and two of the men, believed to be Ong Bee Han and 36-year-old Ho Tze Wei, also robbed 42-year-old Ang Yeow Chong at a carpark near Block 114 Teck Whye Lane on August 29 last year.

Low pointed a knife at the self-employed man and asked him to hand over his money. Mr Ang complied and the trio made off with about S$1,000 in cash.

Of the six men allegedly involved in the cases, two of them, Ong Chye Kwee and Ho, are still at large. Two others, Ong Bee Han and Khoo, have already been charged and their cases are at the pre-trial conference stage.

-CNA/ac

 

[fallon]

Apr 20, 2011

Robbers posed as NEA officers
Six men took $112k after tying up girl, woman and maid

By Elena Chong & Jalelah Abu Baker

Tay was sentenced to 31/2 years' jail and six strokes of the cane.

HOUSEWIFE Ong Siew Hong did not panic when she realised the 'National Environment Agency (NEA) officers' she had let into her house last year were robbers.

She even joked that she would lend them money and take it back when she had a need for it.

'I told them to take whatever they wanted, and just not to hurt us,' the 43-year-old, who is married to a businessman, told The Straits Times yesterday.

For his part in the offence, contractor Tay Chuan Bock, 49, was sentenced to 31/2 years' jail and six strokes of the cane yesterday. Together with five others, he had robbed Ms Ong of $112,792 after tying up the housewife, her 10-year-old daughter and Filipino maid at her Pavilion Rise house last September.

One of Tay's accomplices, 38-year-old Low Soon Kwee, who is unemployed, pleaded guilty to another robbery and was sentenced to four years' jail and 12 strokes of the cane yesterday.

Filipino maid Cleoferly Ucab Tangog, 35, said the men had been carrying out fogging in the area for two days before they approached her that afternoon, asking to be let in. She did not do so.

Ms Ong returned later and was approached by two men. They wore overalls and masks, carried fogging equipment and even gave her a form to sign to 'check for mosquito breeding', she said. She let them in without checking their identification cards.

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Read the full story in Wednesday's edition of The Straits Times.